A third of EV owners also own a petrol or diesel car, but EVs remain their preferred option for all kinds of journeys, according to Zap-Map’s annual survey.
Research from the charge point mapping service has shown that of 4,300 EV drivers surveyed, more than 1,300 ‘dual fuel drivers’ who also have a petrol or diesel vehicle, chose an EV for the vast majority of journeys. These include a local daily trip such as going shopping, the school run or eating out, for which 85% of the time dual fuel drivers will take the EV, the company said.
For commutes, 71% of these drivers use their EV, and even for journeys of over 100 miles 67% will stick with electric, the survey found. Even for UK-based holidays, likely to involve long cross-country journeys reliant on the public charging network, a majority of 55% will leave the fossil fuel car at home, it showed.
The annual Zap-Map EV Charging Survey showed that most EV owners only own an EV. Almost half of them drive just one full battery-electric vehicle, 8% two or more and 2% own or regularly use one battery electric and one plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. In addition, a quarter of them drive one battery-electric car and one fossil fuel vehicle, while the remainder drive a mixture of battery electric, plug-in hybrid and/or fossil fuel vehicles.
Satisfaction levels for electric vehicles remain higher than for petrol and diesel, the company said. Less than 2% of EV drivers want to return to petrol or diesel compared to 9 out of 10 who would not consider trading for a conventional car, it said. Meanwhile the report shows 89% satisfaction for battery-electric vehicles and 83% for plug-in hybrid electric — both higher than 71% for petrol and diesel.
“Our survey has shown for several years now that once you go electric, you don’t go back,” said Melanie Shufflebotham, COO & Co-Founder of Zap-Map. “This year we’ve gone further to show that drivers who haven’t quite let their conventional car go yet still choose to drive their electric.”