By James Cox
Over half of Irish motorists are planning to move to a hybrid or electric vehicle with their next car purchase, according to a new survey.
The motoring report from Carzone found that 55 per cent of respondents would purchase an electric or hybrid vehicle as their next car.
The research also found that younger drivers (18-24-year olds) are more environmentally conscious with 59 per cent of this group likely to purchase an electric or hybrid car, compared to 50 per cent of motorists over the age of 25.
These car buying trends align with the Government Climate Action Bill announced last week that aims to achieve a carbon neutral economy by 2050.
Despite the movement towards greener driving, diesel still remains the most popular fuel engine type among respondents, with over half (54 per cent) owning a diesel car and 38 per cent owning a petrol car.
Electric/hybrid ownership
The report also found an increase of six per cent year-on-year when it comes to ownership of hybrid and electric cars, in 2019 two per cent of respondents owned an electric or hybrid car, that raised to eight per cent in 2020.
The Nissan LEAF was the most-searched electric car on Carzone in 2020, while the BMW 5 Series and Toyota C-HR were the most searched hybrid models.
When it comes to reasons not to ‘go green’, 17 per cent of people are concerned with increased running costs, 15 per cent are concerned with the lack of charging points available and another 15 per cent experience range anxiety.
Awareness of the government’s commitment to a green motoring industry has improved, with 60 per cent of people stating they are now aware of the Government’s goal to reach 100 per cent of all new cars and vans being EV’s by 2030, compared with 52 per cent in 2019. Almost half (44 per cent) feel that this it is achievable, a significant increase from 16 per cent in 2019.
Commenting on the latest report Karl Connolly, audience manager at Carzone, said: “This is the 12th edition of the Carzone Motoring Report, a study that examines trends and changing behaviours of Irish motorists. For this edition, we’ve focused on alternative fuel engines as it’s something that is particularly topical in the motoring industry.
“Awareness for the benefits of alternative fuel vehicles is on the rise among drivers and our research found that 55 per centof drivers intend to buy an electric or hybrid vehicle as their next car purchase. It’s interesting to see such a significant increase in people who are now aware of the Government’s EV goal, 44 per cent who now think it’s achievable compared to only 16 per cent in 2019 according to this year’s report.”
The Carzone motoring report is compiled by analysing data from the 81+ million car views carried out on Carzone in 2020, as well as an in-depth survey of over 2,000 people in Ireland.
