82% of Electric Car drivers never travel more than 60 miles – and half have an ICE car too

A new survey to learn how EVs are being used discovers that 82% of drivers never travel more than 60 miles at a time and half have an ICE car too.

Despite the government pushing back the ban on ICE cars until 2035, we’re still going to be forced by stealth – and other means – to dive in to EVs despite a stubborn reluctance from car owners to comply.

That ‘stealth’ move to EVs is thanks to the ZEV mandate which compels car makers to sell a minimum of 22% of its offerings as EVs or face a fine of £15k per car this year, and that rises to 80% by 2030. So just 20% of all cars sold in 2030 will be available with an ICE powertrain.

Despite the short timeframe, EV sales are being driven almost entirely by fleet purchases thanks to big tax breaks, with private EV owners accounting for, probably, less than 20%.

Now, a new survey commissioned by UK leasing company Zenith shines a light on how EV drivers are using their cars, and it doesn’t auger well for the quick transition to EVs.

Of those EV owners/drivers surveyed, over half use their EV as an urban runaround and also have an ICE car for journies away from their local area, and only 18% of EV owners ever risk a journey of more than 60 miles.

Clearly, private owners of EVs in particular are choosing an EV for local runs – where EVs are perfect – but have no intention of relying on their EV for any sort of travel beyond local errands and school runs.

This is fine if you’re comfortably off and can afford both EV and ICE, but it’s going to leave ordinary families between a rock and a hard place.