About 51% of Australians intend buying an EV, according to the latest EV sentiments survey commissioned by online financial broker Savvy.
“While the numbers of Australians interested in buying an EV in the future remained relatively the same over the last two years since we ran the first survey, the number of people saying they will buy one in the next year did increase 3%, as did the number of people saying they already own one,” says Savvy spokesperson Adrian Edlington.
“The biggest change by far though was people’s perceptions of affordability,” he explains.
“People who said they couldn’t afford one dropped from 30% to 17%, so people are beginning to find EVs more affordable.
“In reality there’s still a long way to go though before EVs are in reach for average Australians,” says Edlington.
“Hopefully, this year and next we will see more makes entering the market in the sub-50k range.
“The closer we get to $40,000 electric vehicles in Australia, the closer we get to mass-uptake.”
About 41% of the 1000 Australians surveyed (compared with 40% in 2021 saying they were interested in buying an EV in the future and 7% within the next year) say they intend to purchase an EV in the future, while 10% say they will purchase within the next 12 months.
Women who stated they could not afford an EV dropped from 37% in 2021 to 21% this year.
When Australians were asked about their top three changes needed make EV ownership more enticing, men were more concerned about improved driving range (49%, women 33%), compared to women being more concerned about electricity prices at 43% (men 36%).
Men also registered more concern about improved infrastructure (44%) versus women (39%), says Savvy.
Overall, Australians’ top choice by far were price drops and/or affordability (76%), with the next three being almost even at around 40% – improved driving range, cheaper electricity, and improved infrastructure.
The survey suggests 45–54-year-olds are the most likely to buy at some point (47%) with the 18-24s and 35-44s indicating they’re the most likely to buy within the next 12 months (14% respectively).
Oder demographics (55-64 and 65 plus) were most likely to prefer a petrol driven internal combustion engine (ICE) car.
Some 12% said they would rather purchase a petrol-electric hybrid vehicle instead.
Prices seemed to have eased in spite of inflation and rate hikes, as only 17% said they couldn’t afford to buy an EV this year compared with 30% in 2021.
This may be influenced by greater choice and cheaper alternatives coming to market and constantly rising fuel prices, says Savvy.
“Curiously, 23% of men say they cannot afford to buy an EV compared with 37% of women.
“There’s no budging on the sentiment of affordability, with 76% agreeing that price drops would make EV ownership more popular and accessible – a 3% increase over last year. 76% of men expressed this view, compared with 81% of women.
“In spite of EV sales taking 3.39% market share in Australia in 2022, a 65% increase over 2021, there still seems to be a long way to go before mass adoption.”
Click here for the full survey.
