Public support and EV demand for electric vehicles is growing fast. But, this is putting increased pressure on the need for expanded charging infrastructure.

Recent research suggests that two out of five (40%) drivers plan on choosing an electric vehicle over the next 5 years. However, some drivers are being put off due to practical concerns surrounding infrastructure. The research also highlighted a surge in positive attitude towards electric driving, with 61% of respondents indicating that they view zero-emission electric driving favourably. Nearly half of all surveyed said that their opinion towards electric driving has favourably improved over the past three years.

But a large number of drivers are still being hampered from turning to EVs due to concerns over infrastructure. A total of 51% of those planning to buy a car in the next five years said insufficient charging infrastructure was preventing them from choosing an EV, while limited driving range, or so called ‘range anxiety’, was the reason another 45% said they would not go electric.

In Italy, Spain and the UK, more than six in every 10 respondents who plan to buy/lease a car in the next five years said a lack of electric charging stations would stop them from making the switch to electric driving.

And 80% of those who said they would not go electric state that insufficient charging possibilities in public areas are a concern for them, yet less than half view charging at work as an area of concern.

Whilst demand for zero-emissions vehicles is outpacing currently available infrastructure, let this not be a reason for corporate fleets to move ahead with the introduction of electric vehicles in their car policy. In practice the charging of the vehicles mainly is focused on office and home charging with an occasional public/fast charging to cover longer distances. Employees not able to charge at home, and hence depending on public charging, may currently have both a comfort challenge and may have a negative TCO impact with higher charging cost.

Bart Vanham

We @Fleet360 drive electric vehicles already for more than 200.000 km and have witnessed it is feasible, fun and does make an impact in both environment and cost. If you want to learn more on how to assess the EV potential in your fleet or you want to implement or introduce electric vehicles in your car policy, or just have a chat on our experiences driving electric vehicles, contact us.