Electric vehicle (EV) drivers in Britain use their cars almost as much as those with petrol and diesel models, according to new analysis.
Despite many believing that electric vehicles can never be a direct replacement for combustion engine cars and suggestions that the country’s battery range and charging infrastructure are not sufficient for longer trips, owners They seem to be proving the skeptics wrong.
Analysis of used car data by Cap hpi found that the average electric vehicle owner drove 8,292 miles in 2023, or just 743 fewer miles than drivers of gasoline and diesel models.
An analysis of around 17.4 million UK cars found that the average annual mileage of an electric vehicle owner is 8,292, compared to 9,035 miles for drivers of petrol and diesel cars. It suggests there is a public misconception about the capabilities of electric cars.
The experts behind the research said the data points to electric vehicle owners increasing their mileage and conventional combustion engine car owners using their engines to do less.
The analysis was carried out on around 17.4 million cars on UK roads since 2014 to today to know the average final mileage per year.
Data shows that electric vehicles now cover more miles, as battery technology and mileage range increase and improvements in charging infrastructure increase driver confidence.
The analysis reveals that the average mileage of all cars between new and 10 years old has changed from an average of 11,381 miles logged per year in early 2014 to 9,654 miles per year through February 2024, a decrease in average mileage of 1,727 miles. .
At the end of 2023, the average vehicle mileage in the UK (excluding electric vehicles) was 9,035 miles per year.
This means that the average annual mileage of gasoline and diesel cars is only 9 percent higher than that of electric vehicles.
Dylan Setterfield, head of forecast strategy at Cap hpi, said: “Figures from the last decade indicate that drivers drove fewer miles per year overall from 2014 to the start of the pandemic.
“The data indicates that a clear convergence is now emerging between electric vehicles and ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicles.
“Electric vehicles now have much longer ranges and the network of charging points is constantly improving, but we are also seeing that electric vehicle drivers have much more confidence in their vehicles and have become more adept at planning their journeys and manage longer trips.
He added that the dramatic drop in average mileage during the pandemic and resulting lockdowns has only “increased steadily” since then, although the overall average is still around 1,000 miles per year less than at the end of 2019.
“The pandemic, without a doubt, forever altered the way drivers use their cars,” he said.
Cap hpi says the convergence between the average mileage of EVs and ICEs is due to a combination of newer electric cars that have longer ranges and the growth of public charging infrastructure.
Cap hpi’s report comes just days after a study found that almost half (48 per cent) of electric vehicle owners in Britain have a petrol or diesel model as a backup when they need to complete journeys over longer distances.
Owners are not comfortable relying on their electric cars or the charging network when making trips of more than 60 miles, the survey of 2,800 electric vehicle users by leasing company Zenith revealed.
Less than one in five of the UK-based panel of EV drivers said they use them for longer journeys.
And its alternative of having a second car powered by a combustion engine “could be slowing the transition to electric vehicles,” according to the report.
According to a recent survey of owners, half of electric vehicle drivers have a second gasoline or diesel vehicle at home that they use for more important trips.
Range and charging experience are two of the biggest problems for electric vehicle drivers, according to Zenith report
The lowest average mileage recorded in the last decade was in May 2021, during the second national lockdown period, when the average mileage recorded fell to 8,537.
“If we look at the average miles driven by electric vehicles, they started out much lower than the rest of the vehicle fleet, with annual mileage in 2014 as low as 4,000,” explains Dylan.
«The main reason for this was the limited range of electric urban vehicles at the time. Models such as the Nissan Leaf were not available in the UK until 2011 and the BMW i3 and Renault Zoe were launched in 2013.
“The trend pattern for BEVs then sees a gradual increase, almost doubling to almost 8,000 miles per year in 2019.
“There is then the same reduction in mileage driven during the pandemic, but then another steady increase to an average above 2019 levels in 2023.”
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