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My other car’s electric!

697_Renault chosen for biggest all electric car club in Scotland 65545
The Renault Zoe electric vehicle, already in use at St Andrews golf club

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25 June 2015

Why EVs stack up as second cars

  • AA say EVs make perfect second car;
  • Lower mileage and expectations put EVs on wish-lists;
  • Most members have access to self-charging overnight

MILLIONS of electric vehicles (EVs) could be flooding on to UK roads when owners realise they make the perfect ‘second’ car, according to the AA.
Edmund King, the AA’s president, will make the argument for EVs at this week’s Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership conference prior to the Battersea Formula E Grand Prix this weekend.

In his presentation Can we electrify mainstream motoring?, King will claim that EVs can cope with the realities of family and work life.
He lists these realities as:

  • 74% of AA members park their cars overnight off the road and on their own land where they could be charged overnight;
  • 50% of 18,688 respondents in AA Populus survey in April have access to two or more cars, 12% of them drive the ‘second’ car;
  • Second cars are more likely to have access to charging, 79% v 74% overall;
  • Second cars are less likely to be used for long journeys: 25% v 15% never drive between 100 and 200 miles a trip and 38% v 25% never drive 200+ miles a trip;
  • It is also estimated that 2.5M second cars could become electric vehicles with home charging and wouldn’t need to be charged away from home.

The AA also says predominant views of second car drivers also favour electric vehicle take-up with most expecting less from second cars in terms of range, reliability, battery replacement and possible future increased taxation.

Another AA Populus poll, 28,265 respondents in May 2015, points to a readiness to move away from traditional fuels. Of the three quarters of them expecting to change their car within the next three years.

Despite less than 1% currently owning a non-petrol or diesel car, 7% in the next three years will buy a hybrid, 1% a plug-in hybrid and 1% a solely electric vehicle.
“The route to introducing an alternative fuel has always been via fleet and business cars, the rationale being that these would start to change opinion by finding their way into the second-hand market or convincing business drivers to extend these new fuels into private use,” said King.

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