Is this the beginning of the end for diesel cars? Survey reveals switch to electric is accelerating

According to a new survey into new car buyers, drivers across the UK are more likely than ever before to switch to an electric vehicle (EV) and ditch their diesel car.

Conducted by What Car?, almost 1,000 UK motorists revealed that only 5% of people looking at purchasing a new vehicle would choose diesel – largely down to the negative news surrounding the industry in recent times.

The survey, commissioned by Bridgestone, also revealed that only 21% of used car buyers would consider a diesel vehicle.

With the price of diesel hitting record high prices earlier this month, and the increasing awareness of the environmental impact ICE vehicles are having – more and more people are considering buying an EV. In fact, 34% stated that the environment was the most important factor in not looking at buying a diesel car.

In total, 90% of car buyers would consider anything other than a diesel-powered car and 66% would never consider buying one ever again.

With the ongoing fuel price rises and the current cost of living crisis, 47% of those surveyed wanted to change from a diesel vehicle to an EV in order to save money.

The most recent Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) data that the electric vehicles market has continued to grow in 2022.

This month alone, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) registrations continued to grow with 12,899 of the latest zero emission cars joining UK roads – an increase of 40.9% on the same month last year – and taking a 10.8% market share, up from 6.5% last year.

While registrations of hybrids (HEVs) also rose by 18.3%, the number of new plug-in hybrid (PHEV) registrations decreased by a third (32.8%). As a result, electrified vehicles comprised 27.9% of all new car registrations during April.

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Following the results of the survey and the market data from SMMT, further RAC analysis shows that the UK is just months away from hitting 500,000 battery electric vehicles milestone.

With RAC data analysis showing there are now an estimated 456,000 battery-electric cars on the UK’s roads, following the publication of new government data today, RAC EV spokesperson Simon Williams said: “Our analysis shows we’re now tantalisingly close to hitting the magic milestone of half a million zero-emission battery electric cars on the UK’s roads, something we expect to see reached in a matter of months.

“The sight of more cars sporting a green flash on their number plates is a reminder of the fantastic progress that is being made in getting more drivers to go electric, but there’s still a lot of work to do when you consider that battery-electric cars still only represent 1.2% of all those on the roads.

“As we begin to overcome the chip shortage that has so badly affected new car production, the focus for government and industry has to be on encouraging as many people to confidently move away from their current petrol and diesel powered vehicles as possible. Key to this happening is a greater supply of pure EVs in the first place, which will help reduce prices, together with improvements to public charging networks. We’re proud to be playing our part by offering home charger installation and a domestic electricity tariff offering an excellent value overnight rate for charging at home.”

“The total number of cars capable of covering at least some zero-emission miles – such as plug-in hybrids which now number 348,000 – also looks like it will reach a landmark as it will soon top the 1 million-mark.”