What has been learnt so far from Electric Nation surveys?

We wanted to take this opportunity to thank all our recruits for being so engaged with the surveys so far! To date, they have been tasked with completing 2-3 of them, and response rates have been fantastic – we are hoping to see this remain the case for the duration of the project.

For now, you may be wondering who the EV owners are on this Electric Nation journey? Well, we have electric vehicle enthusiasts from a variety of locations. We have participants from Cornwall to the East Midlands, as well as those living in urban, rural and semi-rural settings. There is a wide range in the age of EV owners, with our youngest at 21 and our oldest owner in their 80s. While nine in ten work a typical ‘9-5’, there are some participants working shifts. What is clear, is that electric vehicles have an appeal across location, age and lifestyle. Their input in this research is furthering the understanding of who the EV owners of the future are. For example, did you know that EV users are more likely than the general public to be considering solar panels and other future energy solutions? Five times more likely in fact.

It isn’t just who we are speaking to that makes this project unique, it is also what they drive as well. Half of our participants have battery only plug-in vehicles, while half are driving plug-in hybrids. The variety of cars is astounding, with 17 different car makes in this project. The battery sizes of cars are also varied, which means charging needs are not all the same and people don’t all charge at the same time.

What they use their EV for also varies, with around three-quarters of them using their cars for business-related purposes (either commuting or on business), while for a quarter of participants their EV is only used in social situations.

Over the next few months, we will be gathering more and more insights. We cannot wait to share the results with you – watch this space!