Advice on switching to an EV

areas will look to introduce ultra-low emission zones, EV drivers will also avoid having to pay tariffs faced by those in older, polluting engined cars.

And Peter Vardy reckons annual maintenance costs are cut from about £485 to £340, resulting in a saving of £145 each year.

Ed Carpenter, the firm’s director of electric vehicles, said: “Our job is to educate motorists on the benefits of switching to an EV and ensure they have factored in the total cost of ownership – including incentives and savings – when considering their next car.”

The advice comes as a major poll of more than 3000 EV drivers by Zap-Map shows high satisfaction among them, with increasing confidence about going on long journeys.

The study found that more than 90 per cent of motorists are extremely happy with their EV and would not want to replace it with a petrol or diesel car.

The data highlights the positive impact of EVs on drivers who have benefited from a great driving experience, low running costs and low emissions. Less than one per cent wanted a return to a petrol or diesel vehicle.

Participants were also asked about the farthest distance they have travelled in an EV in a single journey, with 53 per cent saying they had driven more than 200 miles.

The figure indicates that drivers are habitually using their EVs on longer trips, and should put to bed concerns over the range of EVs, given that the average car journey in the UK (prior to the pandemic) was just 8.4 miles in 2019.

Furthermore, 24 per cent said they had driven more than 300 miles in one trip – with more than seven per cent doing the long haul and driving more than 500 miles in a single journey.

Meanwhile, between 101 and 200 miles was the longest trip in an EV for 31 per cent and it was less than 100 miles for 15 per cent. The results of Zap-Map’s research come at a time of record-breaking sales for the EV industry.

The latest figures show that sales of battery electric vehicles accounted for almost 19 per cent of all new car sales in November, a growth of 110 per cent compared with November 2020, when the figure was nine per cent.

Zap-Map boss Melanie Shufflebotham said: “The findings of this latest poll certainly give prospective EV buyers something to think about in 2022. We’ve seen that those who make the switch to electric cars simply don’t look back.

“It’s also clear from the distances EV drivers have travelled that concerns over range and other historical challenges of owning and running an EV are increasingly a thing of the past.”

Backing up the shift to EVs, leasing firm DriveElectric is forecasting that at least 330,000 new purely electric vehicles will be registered in the UK this year – with sales accelerating from mid-2022 as more new models come to market.