The Attitudes towards electric vehicles in Northern Ireland 2023/24 report has been published today
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Date published:
This report, produced by the Analysis, Statistics and Research Branch (ASRB) of the Department for Infrastructure (DfI), presents findings from the 2023/24 Continuous Household Survey (CHS).

The publication is available on the Electric cars research page at www.infrastructure-ni.gov.uk/articles/electric-cars-research
Key Points
Attitudes towards electric vehicles in Northern Ireland
- A quarter (25%) of all respondents would ‘definitely’ or ‘strongly consider’ buying an electric vehicle as their next purchase, down from 33% in 2022/23 and 38% in 2021/22.
Of those respondents, 82% intend to purchase an electric vehicle within the next 5 years.
The top three reasons that would encourage purchase an electric vehicle include: a grant towards purchase of an electric car (47%), low overall running costs (46%) and grants to install a home charger (44%).
The most commonly given reason for discouraging the purchase of an electric vehicle is purchase price, given by three quarters (75%) of respondents.
Notes to editors:
- The information presented in this publication derives from the 2023/24 Continuous Household Survey (CHS) in relation to attitudes towards electric vehicles. The CHS is considered to be a representative sample of the population at household level.
- A total of 2,439 adults aged 16 and over were surveyed in 2023-24.
- The report contains information from the 2023/24 Continuous Household Survey (CHS) 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.
- The information presented in this publication may be used by the Department to inform and understand the story behind current trends and to assist in any future policy discussion and development.
- Note: Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, NISRA suspended all face-to-face household interviews in March 2020. In the reporting periods, April 2020 - March 2021 and April 2021 - March 2022, all interviews carried out on the Continuous Household Survey (CHS) were conducted by telephone. For this reporting year, April 2023 - March 2024, face to face interviewing was the preferred method of data collecting, however telephone interviewing was an option, thus making the survey dual-modality. There are a number of factors which users should take into consideration when interpreting the 2020-21 results and care should be taken when comparing these to previously published findings from the survey.
- The statistical report has been produced in accordance with the Code of Practice for Statistics, complying with the pillars of Trustworthiness, Quality and Value. You can find further information about the Code of Practice on UK Statistics Authority website.
- For more information relating to this publication, including additional analysis, breakdowns of data, or alternative formats please contact:
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