Tusker gives Fleet World magazine an industry perspective on how public opinion is moving to EVs

It is fair to say that the buzz surrounding electric vehicles has never been stronger. While 2021 was a breakthrough year for EVs amongst Tusker’s drivers, with a 76% year on year increase in registrations from 2020, 2022 has only seen this trend accelerate.

Battery Electric Vehicles made up the top ten most popular vehicles on order with Tusker’s drivers in Q1 and Q2 of 2022 with over 80% of vehicles on order now EVs. For the first time ever, the list of most popular cars contained no Plug-in Hybrids or Internal Combustion powered vehicles at all. In fact, petrol cars now only account for 5% of orders, and just 14% are hybrid.

A recent survey by a major UK utility company has underlined this fact, showing that attitudes towards electric vehicles continue to shift in favour of EVs, with 78% of respondents saying they see themselves driving an electric car in the next 1-3 years. The reasons given for the ever-increasing popularity of EVs ranged from the regulatory to the practical and shows an increase in favourability across the board.

8% of drivers less worried about range anxiety

• 66% of those surveyed said the Government’s ban on the sale of internal combustion engine vehicles in 2035 has made it more likely that they will adopt an EV sooner than otherwise expected
• 8% are now less worried about range anxiety than a year ago
• 67% in total now less worried about charging than they had been the previous year

However, a key underlying factor to the popularity of EVs is the financial incentive offered by the Government’s BiK rates, which has meant that for the majority of motorists, environmentally friendly motoring has finally become a possibility.

Thanks to the savings available for drivers through the combination of salary sacrifice and the low BIK rates of just 2% which are fixed until 2025, all drivers, not just those in higher tax bands can take advantage of monthly savings, while accessing new, and environmentally friendly vehicles.

With this in mind, it is important that while public opinion may have swung favourably towards EVs, the economic incentives which are driving their uptake are not cast aside. If the UK is to meet its targets in 2035, the importance of the ongoing stability of low BiK rates beyond 2028 and the broad availability of salary sacrifice schemes must not be overlooked.