Saturday, October 5, 2024
Electric VehiclesLatestNews

90% of Devon residents plan to buy EV

More than 90% of Devon residents are aiming to buy an electric vehicle according to a survey from the county council.

The survey of more than 1700 residents discovered a third said they wanted to replace their ICE vehicle within five years – and only 6% said they would ‘never’ buy an EV.

The survey was part of the Deletti project, led by Devon County Council and supported by the European Regional Development Fund. It asked about driving habits, where people store their vehicle, mileage, what they drive, engine size and general attitudes towards EVs.

Findings included 50% stating it was important the car charged quickly and another 60% saying charging an EV should be cheaper than refuelling a car. Also eight of ten said their top priority would be to charge their car near or at their home.

The county council is part of private-sector led, government funded project to trial on-street charging points in Exeter for those with no off-street parking called Rapid Charging Exeter. The first phase is currently out for public consultation and proposes 10 locations, nine of which will include a hireable electric Co Car, to enable more residents to test drive and access EVs. The rapid chargers proposed will provide around 75 miles of travel after 30 min of charge (25kWh) at a cost of £7.50.

In a separate project, a first phase of 25 charging points in public car parks will be implemented across the county from later this year. The council is also bidding for further government funding for a second phase which would see a further 48 installations across Devon.

Councillor Stuart Hughes, Devon’s cabinet member for highways management, said: “The survey has shown that increasing numbers of people are considering exchanging their vehicle for an electric car. Through the delivery of infrastructure and new rapid-charging technologies, many of the barriers which dissuaded people from considering EV are being removed.”

EV vehicle-owner, from Exeter, Emma Fancett, who responded to the survey, said: “I’m excited to see new chargers popping up around Devon, helping us to make cleaner transport choices. It felt like a gamble when we switched to an electric car for our family in 2019. We had no off-street parking and there were no public charge points in our area. It won’t be long before switching to an EV will be a no-brainer decision.”

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