The Department for Transport has released the findings from its National Travel Attitudes Study.

Of those who said they were planning on buying a new car, 49% said they were planning on buying an ultra-low emission vehicle as their next vehicle, defined as either a battery electric or plug-in hybrid vehicle.

When asked about their knowledge of electric cars, 45% of respondents said they had low to no knowledge , compared to the 37% who rated their knowledge high to complete. Males were more likely to rate their own knowledge highly (47%, compared to 28% of females), and conversely females were more likely to rate their knowledge towards the low end of the scale (56%, compared to 32% of males).

Those with a higher household income rated their knowledge more favourably compared to those with a lower household income. Of those with a household income over £50,000, 44% rate their knowledge as good to complete compared to 32% of those with an income less than £15,000.

Of those with a household income £50,000 or more, 57% were planning to make a ULEV their next purchase and only 8% were not planning on purchasing a new car. This is also largely the same as individuals in households with an income between £35,000 and £49,999. By contrast however, 41% of those in households with an income of less than £15,000 were likely to make a ULEV their next vehicle, and 29% had no plans to purchase a new car at all.

Of all respondents, 27% agree that most public chargepoints have long queues, an almost even split with the 26% who disagree. This has increased from the 18% who said that most public chargepoints have long queues when asked in the 2022 survey.

Of those respondents who agree that public chargepoints have long queues, 46% say they are likely to make their next car purchase a ULEV, and 9% say they don’t plan to buy a new car in the near future. Conversely those who disagree that there are long queues, 55% say they are likely to make their next car purchase a ULEV, and 16% say they don’t plan to buy a new car in the near future.

When asked if “most public chargepoints for electric vehicles are not accessible to drivers with disabilities”, 24% of people agree and 16% disagree. This is an increase from the 20% who agreed in the 2022 survey. The majority (55%) of people neither agree nor disagree, and 4% say they do not know.

Of those people who said that their health was very good, 21% agreed that most public chargepoints for electric vehicles are not accessible to drivers with disabilities, compared to 31% of those who rate their health as “fair” to “very bad”. Similarly, 27% of those who said they had a physical or mental health condition or illness agreed that they are not accessible, compared to 23% of those who say they do not have such a condition.