More Australians considering electric and hybrid vehicles – poll

An increasing number of Australians are looking at electric and hybrid vehicles for their next set of wheels, a new Roy Morgan survey shows.

It reveals 1,174,000 Australians (aged 14 plus) are looking to buy a hybrid vehicle, and 438,000 Australians are intending on buying an electric vehicle (EV), as their next car purchase – either new or used.

Both figures represent an increase in car buyers’ intentions from a year ago, Roy Morgan says.

The number of Australians looking to buy a hybrid car as their next vehicle increased 553,000 since June 2018, while the number of consumers intending to buy an EV has increased 200,000.

“Over the past 12 months, we have seen nearly a doubling in the number of Australians looking to purchase both electric and hybrid vehicles as their next car purchase,” Roy Morgan chief executive officer Michele Levine says.

“The strong growth in popularity of electric and hybrid vehicles suggests that the number of Australians driving these cars will occupy an increasing proportion of the future car industry.

“When we look at the types of electric vehicles people are intending to buy, we see used vehicles growing more strongly than new vehicles, compared with a year ago. This is despite there not yet being a large second-hand electric vehicle market available.”

Levine says the new data derived from face-to-face interviews with more than 50,000 Australians will no doubt interest electric car manufacturers, who are receiving a clear message from Australian consumers that they are looking for more affordable EV options.

When looking specifically at those intending to purchase an EV within the next four years, 61,000 Australians intend buying a used EV, up from 28,000 as of June 2018 (an increase of 33,000).

However, the opposite trend was apparent for those looking to purchase a new EV within four years.

As of June 2019, 37,000 Australians were looking to buy a new EV, compared with 45,000 as of June 2018 (a decrease of 8000).

This trend for used car purchasing is a really important step for EVs becoming a mainstream technology, Levine says.

This is a similar trend to what was observed with new hybrid technology in the early 2000s and what will drive the volume of EV sales into the future, she adds.

Some of the attitudes held by those looking to buy EVs include 98.6% aim to recycle everything they can, 92.8% believe that if we don’t act now we’ll never control our environmental problems, and 89.7% believe they are environmentalists at heart – all far higher than average Australians.

They are also far more likely than the average Australian to go out of their way to learn about new technology.