Almost a quarter of UK drivers say they are more likely to switch to or keep driving an electric vehicle (EV) when they get their next car, due to volatility in petrol and diesel prices.
In a CTEK survey of more than 1,000 UK drivers, conducted by Find Out Now, 23% said they were more likely to drive an EV as their next car.
One in five (20%) purely petrol or diesel drivers in the survey say they were more likely to switch to electric due to the global rises in the price of oil.
More than half already behind the wheel of a fully electric car (BEV) are “even more resolved to stick with electric as their next car” due to oil price volatility.
Drivers in their thirties are the most influenced (31%) by high petrol and diesel prices, with older drivers less motivated to switch to EVs, including just 16% of 65-74 year olds, and 15% of those over the age of 74.
Men (12%) are more likely than women (7%) to be primed to buy a new BEV, with drivers in their thirties the most likely (13%) of the age groups. This follows another CTEK/Find Out Now survey in 2025, when drivers in their 30s – so-called ‘Generation E’ – were found to be the driving force of the switch to electric driving.
Turning to used cars, the survey found more drivers still likely to buy a petrol or diesel ICE car. But excluding the don’t knows, more than a third (35%) of drivers anticipate buying a used EV – including BEVs (11%), PHEV plug-in hybrids (9%) and BEV hybrids that can’t be plugged in (15%).
Almost a quarter (24%) of PHEV drivers will buy a new BEV, and more than a third (35%) of HEV drivers will go to a BEV or PHEV.
Viktors Nikolajevs, UK Key Account Manager at EV chargepoint manufacturer CTEK, said:
“The turmoil in the global oil markets has led us towards a £2 litre of diesel on UK forecourts. Today’s Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) drivers have ever more reason to consider electric.
“Increasingly the household budget sums add up in favour of EVs, whether that’s buying new with the help of the UK Government’s purchase grant or used thanks to the increasing availability of great quality EVs with miles on the clock.
“To help accelerate the switch, much more provision of public charging must be a priority to empower drivers without the ability to charge cheaply at home. Our survey shows a growing desire to drive electric and more charging provision is a key enabler of turning that into more EVs on our roads.
“Many drivers are content for now to stick with the driving fuel they know. But spiking petrol and diesel prices are challenging that inertia and tipping more drivers into calculating that it will pay to go greener.”
Image courtesy of CTEK
