- EY has published its latest Mobility Consumer Index report, a yearly study that analyses vehicle buying intent on a global scale.
- Despite rising EV adoption across much of the world, particularly in Europe and China, the report highlights an overall softening in EV demand – with some consumers shifting to buy an ICE car as their next vehicle.
- With EV charging infrastructure remaining one of the top concerns for potential EV buyers, this report highlights just how important the continued rollout of infrastructure will be to ensure mass EV adoption.
How close are we to mass EV adoption across the globe?
This new report from EY takes a global look at car buying intent, and finds that on a global scale, EV purchase intent has fallen – with 14% of consumers intending to buy a fully-electric car in the next 24 months, down from 24% when the survey was ran in 2024. This can partly be attributed to a number of key policy changes around the world, such as the United States’ recent removal of EV tax credits.
The report also looked, on a global scale, at what consumers perceive to be the top barriers for choosing an EV as their next car over an ICE. The number one concern was range anxiety, voiced by 29% of potential buyers. This is despite the fact that EVs entering the market have higher quoted battery ranges than ever before – over 250 miles is quickly becoming the industry standard, whilst ranges of up to 400 miles, previously the reserve of the most expensive EVs on the market, are now becoming a reality on relatively more affordable electric cars – the 492 mile Mercedes-Benz CLA being a case in point. With improvements in EV technology moving at such a rapid rate, there is a clear disconnect between the range modern EVs are actually capable of and what consumers believe they are, which needs to be addressed through stronger marketing messages.
The other key concerns mentioned were a ‘lack of charging infrastructure’ and ‘battery replacement costs’, both voiced by 28% of respondents. When it comes to charging infrastructure, the number of charge points continues to grow globally, even in countries with less favourable EV policies such as the US, so ensuring that consumers know that the infrastructure is available when they switch is a key communication to be made. When it comes to battery replacement costs, OEMs are already in the process of quelling this worry, most recently seen with BYD’s extension to its Blade battery warranty – which now covers the battery for eight years or 250,000 kilometres (155,000 miles).
Despite an uphill struggle for manufacturers to convince first-time EV buyers, the report also makes clear that once people make the switch to EV, the vast majority stick with it. Whilst only 5% of global ICE owners are considering a BEV for their next car, for current BEV owners globally, a majority 78% of them plan to stick with a BEV for their next car purchase. Therefore, getting car buyers into their first time EV is crucial to drive EV adoption in the years and decades to come.
We reached out to ChargeUK, the industry voice for the UK public charging industry, for further comment on what these statistics mean for the UK specifically, where EV adoption and charge point rollout has continued to grow at a strong rate.
Vicky Read, Chief Executive of ChargeUK, commented on the report:
“This study is light on specific data for the UK, but it does show that of all major markets ours has the lowest number of potential EV buyers reconsidering. This tallies with other studies such as PwC’s recent ‘eReadiness’ survey which found the UK’s drivers are more open to EVs than they were last year.
It is interesting to see that range anxiety and access to charging have steadily decreased as concerns for several years but picked up this year. I suspect that this may not be the case in the UK where the sector has been busy building some of the best and most widespread public charging infrastructure in the world. Though there can be a gap between reality and perception, and moving forward on education and visibility through things like official signage would be useful in the UK market.”
