Tuesday 13 August 2024

‘EVs remain unaffordable for Scottish drivers’

The Consumer Scotland survey by research group YouGov found that cost and accessibility act as a deterrent to electric vehicle (EV) adoption in Scotland.

According to the research, 73 per cent of Scottish EV drivers charge mostly at home due to lower costs and high convenience.

The 37 per cent that charge outside of the home do so for several reasons such as living in flats or terraced houses where they are unable to install an EV charger.

Those who do not charge at home found running an EV to be more expensive than expected. Some even found costs to be higher than fuelling petrol or diesel vehicles.

Around 39 per cent of the surveyed population were disappointed in the lack of charging infrastructure. Moreover, 46 per cent said that the charging infrastructure that is currently available is not always in good working condition.

One driver said: 'Charging is the big negative. We've had a full electric car for 5 years and it is still very difficult and inconvenient to take it on long journeys. We thought the amount of chargers and reliability would have improved much more in this time.'

Eleanor Mullan, Head of Analysis for Consumer Scotland, said: 'In future years there will be a significant increase in the number of consumers purchasing and relying on EVs for domestic travel.

'However, research highlighted a number of concerns including the cost and accessibility of the public charging infrastructure available in Scotland which will have a larger impact on those without access to at home charging.

'There are many organisations involved in delivering an effective EV sector and it is essential they work collaboratively to ensure EVs and the infrastructure that supports them work for all consumers.'

The Scottish Government aims for a 56 per cent reduction in transport carbon emissions by 2030 and complete decarbonisation by 2045.