Publication of Public Attitudes towards Electric Vehicles in Northern Ireland, 2015/2016

Date published: 13 April 2017

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The Public Attitudes towards Electric Vehicles in Northern Ireland, 2015/2016 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 2015/2016 Continuous Household Survey (CHS). 2014/2015 was the first year that this question set was included in the CHS and this is the second such report produced.

Publication of Travel Survey for Northern Ireland 2012-2014 headline report

The publication is available on the ASRB website at:

KEY POINTS

Likelihood of Next Vehicle Purchase Being an Electric Car

  • The 2015/16 survey found that 6% of respondents indicated that they were ‘quite likely’ to purchase an electric vehicle while 1% answered ‘very likely’. The majority (94%) of respondents said they were ‘not at all likely’ to buy an electric car as their next vehicle.These percentages are similar to 2014/15.
  • Respondents in the 16-24 (97%), 50-64 (94%) and 65 and over (96%) age categories were more likely to indicate that they were ‘not at all likely’ to buy an electric car as their next vehicle than those in the age categories 25-34 and 35-49 (both 92%).
  • More respondents from a rural area (96%) than those from an urban area (92%) indicated that they were ‘not at all likely’ to buy an electric car as their next vehicle.
    - Those with ‘no qualifications’ (95%) and ‘all other qualifications’ (94%) were more likely than those educated to degree level or higher (90%) to indicate that they were ‘not at all likely’ to buy an electric car as their next vehicle.

Car Access

  • Almost seven out of ten respondents (69%) own/have access to a car/ van which they can drive while almost a quarter (24%) of respondents did not have a driving licence. Almost one in twenty-five respondents (4%) own/have access to more than one car/ van and 3% of respondents hold a driving licence but had no access to a car. These percentages are similar to 2014/15.
  • Respondents in the 25-34 (77%), 35-49 (81%) and 50-64 (78%) age groups were more likely to own/have access to a car/ van than those in the age group 16-24 (44%), and those aged 65 and over (68%). Respondents aged 16-24 (51%) were more likely to state ‘No, I don’t have a driving licence’ than any other age group.
  • Males (80%), respondents without a disability (79%), those with dependants (80%), the economically active (83%) and those living in rural areas (85%) were more likely to own/have access to a car/ van than females (68%), those with a disability (60%), those without dependants (68%), the economically inactive (60%) and those in urban areas (67%).

Vehicle Purchase Influencing Factors

  • Among respondents, the biggest influencing factors when purchasing a vehicle were ‘buying price’ (53%), followed by ‘reliability’ (16%). These results are similar to the 2014/15 CHS where the top responses were ‘buying price’ (49%) followed by ‘reliability’ (16%).
  • Buying price was the most frequently given response among all age groups.
  • Among 16-24 year olds, ‘insurance’ was indicated by 13% as being their biggest influencing factor when considering a vehicle purchase, higher than any other age group.
  • Respondents aged 65 and over (25%), those with a disability (19%) and those with dependents (18%) were more influenced by reliability.

Electric Car Purchase Influencing Factors

  • The most popular factors that would encourage respondents to purchase an electric carwere ‘low running costs’ (36%) then ‘£5,000 grant towards purchase of an electric vehicle’ (32%) followed by ‘no vehicle tax’ (27%) then ‘no carbon emissions’ (22%) and ‘no requirement to pay for petrol or diesel’ (20%).Almost half of respondents (45%) said that none of the options would encourage them to buy an electric car. These results are similar to 2014/15.
  • In terms of what factors would discourage the purchase of an electric car, almost six out of ten respondents (59%) were discouraged by the ‘need to recharge your vehicle’.The next most popular deterrent was ‘vehicle range’ (55%) followed by ‘purchase price’ (50%). A tenth (10%) said that none of the options listed would discourage them from buying an electric car.

Notes to editors: 

1. Background

The information presented in this publication derives from the 2015/2016 Continuous Household Survey (CHS) in relation to Public Attitudes towards Electric Vehicles in Northern Ireland. Questions on the Public Attitudes towards Electric Vehicles in Northern Ireland, were included for the first time in the 2014/2015 Continuous Household Survey (CHS), this was therefore the second year that this question set was included in the CHS and was asked of 3,340 respondents.  The CHS is considered to be a representative sample of the Northern Ireland population at household level.

DfI will use the information to address barriers to the uptake of low emission vehicles and to inform policy on how to design measures which would encourage the uptake of low emission vehicles across Northern Ireland.

2. Official Statistics

This is an Official Statistics publication and therefore follows the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.  You can find further information about the Code of Practice at:

3. Further Information

For further information please contact:

Analysis, Statistics and Research Branch
Department for Infrastructure
Clarence Court
10-18 Adelaide Street
Belfast BT2 8GB

All media queries should be directed to the Department for Infrastructure Press Office on 028 9054 0007 or email: press.office@infrastructure-ni.gov.uk. Out of office hours please contact the duty press officer via pager number 07623 974 383.

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