Attitudes towards E-Vehicles in Northern Ireland 2021/22 has been published today

Date published: 26 January 2023

The ‘Attitudes towards E-vehicles in Northern Ireland 2021/22’ report is now available. This report, produced by the Analysis, Statistics and Research Branch (ASRB) of the Department for Infrastructure (DfI), presents findings from the 2021/22 Continuous Household Survey (CHS).

Statistical press release

The publication is available on the ASRB website.

Key Points

Attitudes towards E-Vehicles in Northern Ireland

  • Over a third (37%) of all respondents would ‘definitely’ or ‘strongly consider’ buying an electric vehicle as their next purchase, up from a quarter (25%) in 2019/20.
  • Of those, almost 8 in ten respondents (79%) intend to purchase an electric vehicle within the next 5 years.
  • Male respondents and those living in urban areas were more likely to consider purchasing an electric vehicle than females and those living in rural areas.
  • The top three reasons that would encourage purchase an electric vehicle include: ‘low overall running costs’ (55%), ‘environmentally friendly’ (53%) and the up to £3,000 grant towards purchase of an electric car/£8,000 towards electric van purchase (53%).
  • The leading concern, towards purchasing an electric vehicle is the purchase price itself, with 70% of respondents reporting this as a discouraging factor.

Notes to editors: 

  1. The information presented in this publication derives from the 2021/22 Continuous Household Survey (CHS) in relation to Attitudes towards E-vehicles.The CHS is considered to be a representative sample of the population at household level.
  2. A total of 4,103 adults aged 16 and over were surveyed in 2021/22.
  3. The report contains information on the proportion of respondents with a driving licence and access to a car/van, the likelihood of purchasing an electric vehicle, if so, when they would be likely to purchase and the factors that would encourage and discourage purchase of an electric vehicle.
  4. The Department may use the information presented in this publication to inform and understand the story behind current trends and to assist in any future policy discussion and development.
  5. Note: Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, data collection for the 2020/21 survey moved from face-to-face interviewing to telephone mode with a reduction in the number of questions. Telephone interviewing has remained in place for the 2021/22 survey, therefore caution should be used when interpreting trend data due to methodology and content changes during the 2020/21 survey period.
  6. This is an Official Statistics publication and therefore follows the Code of Practice for Statistics.You can find further information about the Code of Practice on the UK Statistics Authority website.
  7. For more information relating to this publication, including additional analysis, breakdowns of data, or alternative formats please contact:
Analysis,Statistics and Research Branch,
Room 5.25, Clarence Court,
10 - 18 Adelaide Street,
Town Parks
BELFAST,
BT2 8GB
  1. All media queries should be directed to the Department for Infrastructure Press Office at: press.office@infrastructure-ni.gov.uk
  2. The Executive Information Service operates an out of hours service for media enquiries only between 1800hrs and 0800hrs Monday to Friday and at weekends and public holidays. The duty press officer can be contacted on 028 9037 8110.
  3. Follow the Department for Infrastructure on Twitter @deptinfra and on Facebook @DepartmentforInfrastructure 

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