Car buyers are still skeptical about going electric, Ford boss said

 Consumers are still skeptical of electric cars and switching from petrol and diesel is the “real challenge”, Ford UK director told the BBC.

Lisa Brankin said more government support would be needed for the electric car market before the proposed ban on new petrol and diesel sales in 2030.

A study by energy regulator Ofzem found that 6.5 million households plan to buy electric cars by 2030.

However, the number of electric vehicles (EVs) currently in use is low.

Research by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) found EVS accounts for more than 1% of the 35 million vehicles on UK roads.

However, sales of battery-powered vehicles have more than doubled over the past year, but the number of plug-in hybrids has also increased by more than a third.

Customer concerns

However, MS Brankin, managing director of Ford in the UK and Ireland, told Radio 5 Live's Wake Up to Money program that many consumers were skeptical about buying an electric car. According to 2020 figures from Statista, car manufacturers are still the top car manufacturers in the UK.

“We conducted a survey looking at customer attitudes and we found that only 10% of customers were actively considering a battery-powered electric vehicle as their next purchase,” Ms. Brankin said.

“Most other people were still broad about a lot of things - range, charging infrastructure, lack of information to customers and obviously price.

Regarding the cost of electric vehicles, he said: "We acknowledge that this is a problem and so we have been urging the government to continue supporting the full range of battery-powered electric vehicles.

As part of a broader plan to neutralize the UK carbon by 2050, the government aims to phase out vehicles that generate tailpipe emissions.

The RAC said the UK's charging network needed to be "significantly" increased in May to cope with the increase in sales of electric vehicles.

Sales in the EU have risen sharply due to strict new emissions regulations that have forced manufacturers to invest billions in new zero-emissions models.

A report by the Public Accounts Committee published this month warned that there were no plans to address the "huge challenge" of persuading motorists to move to electric vehicles by 2030. The same report states that only 13 electric car models sold in the UK cost less than £ 30,000 at the moment.

Ms Brankin said the company wanted to see a "comprehensive plan" from the government to switch to electric vehicles "involving all stakeholders, not just car manufacturers".

The government says it is investing £ 2.8 billion to help the car industry and drivers switch to electricity, and that associated EV costs will decrease as production increases worldwide.