MSE Forum Poll: Will you be driving an electric car within the next five years?

subjecttocontract

silverwhistle said:

subjecttocontract said:

There seems to be a serious lack of public chargers outside of the motorway system.

Have you used an app to see what is local to you? The chargers aren't always in the most obvious of places, although there are some areas of the country which aren't particularly well provided for. There are certainly more chargers than petrol stations though, and that trend is only going to continue.

Yes and there are a few chargers in out of town supermarket car parks which wouldn't be much use unless I wanted to shop out of town, there aren't any in town. 

Comparing the number of chargers to petrol stations is not a valid comparison as the use of each is completely different.

We were told that the infrastructure would improve. If improvement gets any slower it might stop completely.

oldandwizend

silverwhistle said:

 There are certainly more chargers than petrol stations though, and that trend is only going to continue.

Yes, but most petrol stations have at least 8 pumps. I have yet to see any locations with at least 8 charging points.

mark_cycling00

No, it won't be in the next five years

silverwhistle said:

mark_cycling00 said:

Some newer models have heat pumps which burn even more electricity trying to keep the battery warm which adds to the cost. 

I'm not sure where you have sourced the information for you post, but I'd be very surprised if it were an actual owner. There is an impact with colder weather, just as there is with ICEs, but most of what you wrote is somewhat inaccurate. 

I have a brand new electric car and done 8000 miles since purchase. I'm on a 9p overnight tariff and an ohme charger as the location is out of WiFi reach.

We've had around 10 nights so far at below zero and the next day a 50 mile journey will see the range reduce by 100 miles consistently. Batteries don't like extreme temperatures. 

Over summer I did plenty of long return journeys to family on one charge if I used A and B roads. Motorways would always require a charge or two. I try and use the public Tesla charges which can be much cheaper. Many miserable hours spent at Blythe valley business park on a Sunday evening because the range is nowhere near 300 miles if I've been on motorways.

Barneysmom

No, it won't be in the next five years

No, I'm (fingers crossed) keeping this car for another seven years then I plan to stop driving altogether and use public transport and hire something when needs dictate.
It's too expensive and there's not really any pleasure in driving any more. 

MACKEM99

No, it won't be in the next five years

Rob5342 said:

oldandwizend said:

Definitely would not consider full EV not just within 5 years but ever! 
I had one for a day whilst my ICE was in for its annual service/MOT and hated it. No soul, too expensive, too many gadgets and driver aids - if you cannot drive responsibly without 'lane assist' etc. etc. them then you should not be driving!.
I have 62 years accident and claim free driving and am now, fortunately, of an age where my existing ICE will probably outlive me if looked after properly, is not stolen or written off courtesy of a third party.

You are going to get the driver aids in any new car, whether it's electric or not. They are a good thing in my opinion, most accidents are the result of human behaviour, one way or the other, and the more you can take away from people the safer the roads will be. 

Except when as happened to me the other day when got red flashing sign and loud noise warning of pre collision when nothing there, nearly needed a toilet roll quickly! My warning is on the lowest setting with no option to turn it off.

HorseWhisperer

Yes, it will be in the next five years

Dustyevsky said:

twopenny said:

Apart from the effect on the planet of building them and the chemicals released from the road because of the weight I experiencing exasperation with these massive vehicles that don't fit in the lanes on our narrow country roads.
Darn things are just massive!

To be fair, they're not all massive. My friend has a Toyota hybrid, which is about Focus-sized. 

But yes, I used to think my Honda CRV was quite large, until I saw it sitting next to some modern hybrid 4x4s in the supermarket car parks! 

I live in the countryside, on a single track road. For that reason we bought a Volvo EX30 to replace our written off Audi A3 as it was a cm or so smaller. Size of EVs was a big issue for us as we already have a Honda CRV ICE (our workhorse for shifting bales of hay, going to the tip etc) and didn't want/need another large car. It was quite some time before we found an EV with good performance and the right dimensions, but they do exist. 

Very happy with the EX30 - no range anxiety at all (69kWh battery / 260ish miles in summer and never drive more than 200 miles without a break in an ICE anyway). We are very lucky in that we can charge at home with a 7kW charger. On Octopus Go @ 8.5p/kWh so, taking into consideration leaving 10% in bottom of the battery, it costs about £6 for a full charge (incl VAT) / 240 miles. 

HorseWhisperer

Yes, it will be in the next five years

subjecttocontract said:

There seems to be a serious lack of public chargers outside of the motorway system. I couldn't drive to any of the towns near me and charge the car. I haven't found a single town car park with an EV charger. The infrastructure just doesn't exist yet. The millions of people living in flats and terraces currently have little to no opportunity. It will come, I think, but it's a long, long way off. Not everyone in the country is fortunate enough to have the money to buy the car and the facilities to install a home charger.

At the end of November 2025, there were 87,168 electric vehicle charging points across the UK, across 44,326 charging locations, and around 300 points being added every month. Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/electric-vehicle-charging-infrastructure-statistics

As of January 2025 there were 8,329 fuel stations (most recent figures I could find), so about 4:1. Source: https://www.theaa.com/about-us/newsroom/aa-ev-recharge-report-december-2024. 

I live out in the "sticks" and my nearest town of Rye only has 1 charging station (16 minutes drive), though the next nearest town of Hastings (18 minutes away) has 9 charging stations, split between petrol stations, supermarkets and 2 car parks, though the fastest chargers are at a (publically accessible) hotel and a health club. There are also 4 more charging stations 17-19 minutes away from my home, in villages and on A roads. To compare, there are 16 petrol stations in the same area, the nearest being 10 minutes drive from home (though I gather they are aiming to put in EV chargers as it is also a supermarket). 

But we rarely have to visit public EV chargers as we have a charger at home. Even driving to London (via the motorway) and back we can make it there and back easily on one full battery. Which is just as well as the nearest motorway EV charging station is 40 miles away from our house. 

And no, not everyone in the country has the space/finances to install a home charger, but many, many people (especially in towns and cities) do not have the the space/finances to even own any type of car at all. Unfortunately, life isn't fair, and not everyone gets to have everything on the menu.

penny22

No, it won't be in the next five years

I will never have an electric car, and will keep my petrol car forever, I like to drive my cars and like the manual gears, I do not like the sound of electric vehicles they sound like milk floats, they are unsafe and catch fire, 

real_human

Undecided / Like to know more first

Extortionate prices to charge outside of home charger.
a bit of range anxiety too.
PHEV - not worth the investment.

Somerset_Alan

No, it won't be in the next five years

Not in the next 5 years. 

Others have already given the same reasons as me:

Lack of charging infrastructure in rural areas.  Lack of capable and equipped garages within a usable distance (i.e. walking distance).  Range concerns - to add meat to the general anxieties about range, most of the places I want to go to are not readily served by motorways, and I prefer quieter roads anyway, so the argument that it's as simple as taking a break for a coffee at the services falls down.  Worries about the likely state of the second hand EV market - will there be anything around that's 4-6 years old and has a battery that's still got plenty of life in it?  (By plenty of life I mean it must still be capable of holding sufficient charge to provide more than "city" driving range.)