COVID-19 drives EV interest

More than 40% of those planning to buy a new car are thinking of going electric, the latest EY Mobility Lens Consumer Index shows.

Green consciousness and environmental issues are now ranked as the clear number one influence on EV buyers, professional services network Ernst and Young Global (EY) says.

Any EV sales boom will be part of a wider resurgence in car buying, driven by changing mobility patterns and perceived COVID-19 risk, it adds.

Across the world, non-work-related travel is set to recover more than work travel, the report states.

“What strenuous efforts by OEMs and governments alike have struggled to achieve for years, the pandemic may have finally catalysed in months – the long-awaited EV sales boom may be upon us.”

The latest EY Mobility Lens Consumer Index records some of the biggest shifts seen in both buying intentions and motivations among consumers across 13 major international markets.

No less than 41% of those who say they intend to purchase a new car are considering an EV — 66% of them in the next 12 months.

“That’s an 11% increase on the figure recorded during the initial wave of the pandemic last year, in the EY Mobility Lens Consumer Index wave 1 research.

“Moreover, for the first time, environmental concerns top the list of reasons for considering an EV across all age groups.”

EY says that with millions of home workers spending more time in their local areas and discovering the pleasures of cleaner air and lower pollution levels, the pandemic has crystallised attitudes toward the environment.

“Overall levels of concern have risen — 78% of potential non-ICE car buyers say that COVID-19 has heightened their level of environmental awareness — and crucially, these concerns are now reflected in intentions to purchase more sustainable vehicles.

“This represents a breakthrough moment in consumer attitudes that could hugely accelerate demand for EVs and alternative powertrain vehicles — previously, many consumers expressed generalised concerns over sustainability, but those concerns did not translate into action when it came to buying their next car.”

EY believes that any EV boom will be a part of a wider resurgence in car buying regardless of powertrain, catalysed by changing mobility patterns as well as perceived COVID-19 risk.

“Fewer, longer work journeys coupled with lingering concerns over the safety of public transport are cementing the car as a low-infection-risk ‘safe space’ for travel.”