Millions of second cars could be electric, AA president tells LowCVP Conference

Sat 27 June 2015 View all news

AA President Edmund King says that the electric vehicle revolution could take a major leap forward if car manufacturers focused on the 'realities of family car use' where electric models are often ideal for use as a second car. The AA based its comments on the findings of a new Populus survey of over 18,000 'mainstream motorists' which was commissioned specifically to coincide with the LowCVP Conference.

Sparking the electric vehicle revolution could be achieved by flipping current thinking and homing in on the family second car, Edmund King argued at last week’s LowCVP conference prior to the final races in the Formula E series at Battersea Park last weekend.

According to the AA press release, the realities are:

  • 74% of AA members park their cars overnight off the road and on their own land (58% on the driveway, 16% in the garage) where, potentially, they could be charged overnight,
  • 50% of 18,688 respondents in AA Populus survey in April have access to two or more cars, 12% of them drive the ‘second’ car,
  • Second cars are more likely to have access to charging, 79% v 74% overall,
  • Second cars are less likely to be used for long journeys: never drive between 100 and 200 miles a trip – 25% v 15% overall, never drive 200+ miles a trip – 38% v 25% overall.

The AA estimates that 2.5 million second cars could be EVs with home charging and, more importantly, wouldn’t need to be charged away from home.

The dominant views of second car drivers also favour electric vehicle take-up:

  • Slightly lower range expectation from an electric vehicle – 105 miles per charge v 109 overall
  • Slightly lower expectations of reliability and safety
  • Slightly less concerned about charging time
  • Less likely to be concerned by the cost of battery replacement
  • Less likely to be concerned by possibility of increased taxation.

Edmund King said: “The route to introducing an alternative fuel has always been via fleet and business cars, the rationale being that these would start to change opinion by finding their way into the second-hand market or convincing business drivers to extend these new fuels into private use.” 

"Electric vehicle range anxiety demands a different approach. We must look where EVs might work, instead of trying to shoehorn them into travel patterns for which they are currently not best suited.

"We also feel that events such as the Battersea Formula E Grand Prix this weekend will help boost the image of electric vehicles."

Related Links

< Back to news list