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Consumer interest in both used electric and diesel cars has increased rapidly over the last six months, according to Startline’s December Used Car Tracker which surveyed 303 consumers and 59 dealers.
The percentage of motorists who would definitely consider an electric car as their next vehicle is up from 19% to 29% and has increased from 12% to 22% for diesel. Interest in petrol has fallen from 49% to 47% and interest in hybrids increased from 26% to 30%.
Paul Burgess, CEO at Startline Motor Finance, said: “Our reading of this is that consumers are becoming more and more interested in vehicles that are cheap to fuel and so are more open to the idea of diesel and electric power.
“Electric cars, if charged at home, are very low cost to operate on a day-to-day basis, while diesel generally offers much improved miles per gallon performance compared to petrol and even most hybrid cars.
“It’s interesting that last month, we carried out some research among dealers which showed that 99% thought there was a direct link between consumer enthusiasm for electric cars and high fuel prices, and these new findings potentially underline that trend.”
The survey also asks motorists what car they would consider after their next car. December’s results are electric 38%, hybrid 29%, petrol 23% and diesel 11%.