Coronavirus lockdown has changed some people's EV attitudes

More people are willing to drive an electric car following the positive environmental impact brought about by the coronavirus lockdown, according to Venson.

Thanks to the government-enforced lockdowns around the world, life has changed dramatically and 45 percent of those surveyed by Venson Automotive Solutions said that the improvement of air pollution levels worldwide has made them reconsider whether of not they'd own an electric car. A further 17 percent said it backed-up their already-made decision to switch to an EV.

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Of those motorists who are now reconsidering EV ownership, 19 percent of those said their next company car or private purchase would definitely be an EV, with the other 26 percent saying that they would become an EV driver at some point in the next five years.

Those statistics follow another EV attitudes survey conducted by Venson in July 2019, in which 41 percent of people said they were considering moving to an EV, but 31 percent said that wouldn’t for another 10-15 years.

"Reducing emissions has been a hot topic and a clear government, business and personal target for several years now, but still the growth of electric vehicle (EV) ownership has been slow," said Alison Bell, marketing director at Venson Automotive Solutions. "This is despite evidence that transport is responsible for 23 percent of global emissions, and driving petrol and diesel fuelled vehicles contributes 72 percent of the transport sector’s greenhouse gas emissions.

"In recent years we have seen the cost of electric vehicles fall, battery efficiency increase, and the network of both public and private charging points grow significantly. All of these steps have boosted consumer confidence in an EV future, however whilst ownership is increasing, we still have a long way to go.

"Having said that, fleet managers looking to introduce fully-electric fleets could find employees more open to the idea now they have seen the global benefits it could bring to the environment."

Nissan

• Make: Nissan
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• URL: Nissan

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