Public attitudes towards electric vehicles: 2016

New registrations of ultra-low emission vehicles (ULEVs) in the UK are growing rapidly according to this bulletin from the DfT, with figures from the first quarter of 2016 showing a rise of more than 500% over a two year period.

The data shows that between January and March 2016, 11,755 new ULEVs were registered, a year-on-year increase of 31% and a rise of 508% from the same period in 2014.

During the first quarter of 2016, ULEVs represented 1% of all new registrations, compared with 0.8% over the previous year, and 0.2% over the year before that.

The bulletin also examines people’s attitudes towards electric vehicles. The 2016 survey found that 5% of respondents said they were thinking about buying an electric car or van – similar figures to the corresponding surveys from 2015 and 2014.

51% of respondents also said that low CO2 emissions was a factor when it comes to buying a new car – 4% fewer than boot size (55%) and 32% fewer than cost (83%).