Motor Trader The award-winning and longest running UK magazine for car retailing professionals. Your first stop for News, Jobs and Reports for the motor industry.
The Ford Focus Electric was voted the most popular electric car in a survey carried out by Auto Trader.
The car was favoured by 15.6% of those surveyed followed by the VW e-Golf on 13.9% and BMW i3 on 13.6%.
In the survey the majority of consumers, 87%, said they would consider buying an alternatively-fuelled (AFV) car but 77% of respondents did not believe they had enough information to make an informed choice.
A third of those polled said the purchase price is the biggest barrier to choosing an AFV.
Only 18% of respondents cited lack of adequate range between re-charges as the most significant stumbling block on the road to an alternatively-fuelled vehicle.
“Cars like the BMW i3, best-selling Nissan Leaf and glamorous Tesla Model S, are fast driving all-electric motoring towards a tipping point,” said Nick King, Auto Trader market research director.
“The fact that range anxiety is easing suggests that our perceptions are improving in parallel with battery technology, and that mass adoption of these vehicles is only just around the corner.”
“While range anxiety appears to be subsiding, the industry still has an education job on its hands to fully promote the financial benefits of all types of AFV,” King added.
“Running costs for an electric or hybrid car are often a fraction of those for a petrol or diesel equivalent. And many models easily offset the car’s initial price penalty within a few years.”
The survey of 1,007 consumers was carried out by Auto Trader in November.