Powering up public support for electric vehicles

While electric vehicles are increasingly seen as ‘for normal people’, government must address the public’s pragmatic concerns and ensure EVs work for all – and, in doing so, hold onto their instinctively pro-EV voting coalition.

There is a political paradox at the heart of policy thinking on electric vehicles. Some, after misreading the political lessons from the Uxbridge by-election and its relationship to London’s low-emission zone, are wary of being seen to interfere in people’s lives. Or worse, to push ideas on people which seem the preserve of an elite few, rather than everyday concerns. Yet, government also want to make tangible and visible improvements to people’s lives. Making it easier to get around, with better technology, and lower costs, is clearly central to that.

This paradox does not exist in a vacuum. Government's desire to improve the everyday sits alongside plans to tackle the emissions that come from transport – of which electrification forms a central plank. Any policy action here also enters a media environment where dis-and-misinformation regarding electric vehicles is rife, with some intent on trying to manufacture a culture war.

Luckily for policymakers, the public is deeply pragmatic about the transition to electric vehicles, and far from interested in an identity-led fight.

The public wants cost and charging addressed

Instinctively, households are positive towards electric vehicles. As with many issues, the public has a deep-seated desire to do the right thing for the planet and their children’s future. The argument that EV’s are part of the solution for climate change, and contribute to the UK’s energy security, remain powerful across demographics.

This positivity is particularly true for key voting groups – including Conservative 2019 to Labour 2024. The only group with negative feelings is 2024 Reform voters, especially Conservative-Reform switchers. The income, education or age divide is minimal compared to other issues. More people think that EVs are available to and 'driven by ordinary people' than think they are 'mostly just for the elite'. In fact, 42 per cent of the public know a close friend or family member with one, and 40 per cent for non-graduates.

People’s concerns about EVs are not bad faith; they are worried about the practicalities. This chimes with the growing body of evidence that the public have a very pragmatic attitude towards transport. People are susceptible to arguments that while EVs are 'a nice idea in theory', they are not necessarily practical for people like them. This concern about whether 'are EVs practical for people like me' is central: it is highly predictive of their positivity to EVs and their willingness to buy one. It is also connected to their views on the 2030 target to phase out petrol and diesel cars.

People have pragmatic concerns around the cost of buying an EV and the ease of charging.

We tested how these practical concerns affect decisions. Voters are driven by two separate types of motivation:

1. civic: ‘I want to do what’s good for the climate’
2. consumer: ‘can I afford this?’.

When we ask people to choose between an EV or a petrol/diesel car, willingness to choose an electric vehicle increases when cost is lowest and charge range (or charging accessibility) is adequate. The flipside is when opponents emphasise cost or charging. Consumer issues can trump voters’ civic mindset – and a potential backlash could brew.

Government policy should focus on practicalities

Government wants to improve people’s lives. It also, to keep pace with carbon budgets, needs to tackle transport emissions. To address both, transport policy needs to engage with everyday concerns, making people’s day-to-day easier, whilst also ensuring political support for the transition remains high and enduring. That means looking at the upfront cost of EVs and taking action on charging.

Cost and demand

One way for EVs to become more affordable is through reversing the trend towards making and selling larger cars. Large cars are more expensive to buy and run – as well as causing more damage to the road network and other road users. Mechanisms to limit and disincentivise big cars could include manufacturing regulations, taxes, increased parking costs, and action to bring down the cost of batteries. The full range of levers should be explored to bring the average size of an EV down, and in doing so bring cheaper models onto the market.

Beyond the salary sacrifice scheme, the UK provides no financial incentives to households to purchase an EV, making us an outlier compared to most developed economies. Demand-side support could include social leasing for those who are high-mileage drivers on low incomes, such as rural carers. The focus should be on supporting those locked into car dependency, rather than subsidising wealthy people to buy cars they can already afford.

Charging

When it comes to charging, there are three areas of action that can reduce concerns:

1. Ensuring we have the right chargers in the right places. The rollout of chargers is on pace with the Climate Change Committee’s recommendations. Yet these aren’t always in the right place. Coverage in rural areas is poor – where people are more reliant on cars – and high in urban areas where we should be emphasising alternative methods of transport. Government has levers to address this, for example prioritisising the use of public finance in underserved locations, ensuring existing schemes like the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure fund plug the gaps in private sector-led rollout.
2. Making chargers more affordable. Charging on the street is more expensive than charging at home, not helped by a higher rate of VAT on the former. This makes charging more expensive for those who don’t have driveways. Government should reduce the VAT rate on public chargers from 20 to 5 per cent as a key signal that it believes EVs are for everyone. Crucially government will need to use competition law to ensure that the private sector passes this saving onto consumers.
3. Helping more people to access working chargers. Lots of chargers don’t work well enough. Chargers are often broken or only work with one app or some types of cars. As IPPR recommended in Making Markets, the government can use the National Wealth Fund to deliver a greater proportion finance via of guarantees, rather than grants, for charging infrastructure. Not only is this a more prudent use of public finance, it also provides levers to ensure ongoing performance of privately built infrastructure. Regulation needs to ensure more interoperability. In the same way Apple had to ensure iPhones work with USB-C all charging, apps should work with all chargers. Mandated standards for chargepoint accessibility are also needed to ensure the public charging network is accessible to drivers with disabilities.

Those who make the shift to EVs should feel confident that they understand the likely costs of running their cars in the future. The UK government therefore needs to kickstart a review of the future of motoring taxes, including the implications of declining fuel duty revenue and need to fairly introduce an equivalent pay per mile charge for EVs.

Conclusion

Telling the public that EVs are cheap and the technology is great, on its own, does not work. Government needs to actively address the public’s everyday, good faith concerns to demonstrate that households will in fact be better off. This action, combined with a message that EVs can be a civic-minded choice, not only hold Labour’s voter coalition together, but nullifies attacks from EV opponents. That smooths the transition, prevents a potential backlash, and ensures people’s lives get easier.

You can read the full in-depth research, including methodology, on the Persuasion UK website.