More consumers will buy electric cars because of the pandemic, says study

Auto industry analysts have predicted a drop in interest, but a Venso Automotive Solutions study says otherwise.

Analysts across the auto industry have predicted that consumer desire to buy electric cars will suffer as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

This is a common prediction about EVs when the world experiences various types of shift.

That said, a new study out of the United Kingdom indicates that the COVID-19 epidemic is making consumers more aware of environmental issues. As a result, they may become more interested in being able to buy electric cars.

Fleet management company Venso Automotive Solutions conducted consumer research in the UK in April. The company’s marketing director, Alison Bell, explained that the research, which interviewed 200 people, asked “Have the effects of the current COVID-19 lockdown made you change your mind about buying an electric vehicle?”

The results showed that among the respondents, 45 percent were considering the purchase of an EV after having experienced notably cleaner air. The reduced use of cars has cleaned the air in many urban areas, showing the difference that reducing emissions can make. Moreover, another 17 percent of the respondents said they had already decided on buying an EV but had increased their certainty since the pandemic.

This indicates that 62 percent of UK consumers would consider being able to buy electric cars.

Transportation currently comprises 23 percent of the global carbon emissions in the world. As travel has been substantially reduced in much of the world due to stay-at-home orders from the pandemic, air quality has improved substantially. The questionnaire itself didn’t ask questions specific to the coronavirus outbreak but sought only the opinions of consumers with regards to their interest in electric vehicles.

Among the 45 percent of motorists currently considering the purchase of an EV, 19 percent said they were certain that their next vehicle purchase would be fully electric. The remainder said they were planning to buy electric cars within the next half decade. This represents a substantial increase in interest since before the pandemic. In July 2019, one in three respondents who were interested in EVs said they still planned to wait another 10 to 15 years before buying.