Eighty eight percent of those surveyed in Northern Ireland say they are not ready for electric vehicles, with almost 80% claiming the planned 2035 ban on petrol and diesel cars is too soon.
That’s according to recent data from the car insurance experts atCompareNI.com - who surveyed 700 motorists in Northern Ireland across January 2025 - on switching to an electric vehicle.
They questioned drivers on making the switch to electric, whether drivers here felt ready and what incentives would encourage them to consider swapping petrol or diesel cars to electric.
By 2035 all newly registered cars in the UK including Northern Ireland will need to be electric or zero emission vehicles.
Petrol and diesel vehicles will no longer be for sale. By 2030 80% of new cars and 70% of vans sold will need to be zero emission with that figure reaching 100% by 2035.*
These changes fall under the Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate (ZEV) which sets out the percentage of new zero emission vehicles manufacturers across the UK will be required to produce each year up to 2030 – with a target for 2024 of 22%, rising to 28% this year.**
In Northern Ireland, from January 2025, car manufacturers have sales quotas to meet for zero emissions vehicles - legislation passed by the Stormont assembly as of October 2024. Although 2024 was a record year for switching to electric, with 382,000 EVs sold across the UK last year – a 21% increase on 2023 – demand is still slow, with licensed zero emission vehicles representing just 2.7% of all vehicles on the road in the UK.***
Quizzed on when they plan to switch to electric vehicles, 48% of respondents said they didn’t plan to go electric, with 22% saying they planned to change just before the ban.
Only four percent of respondents already own an electric vehicle. Over half of respondents (65%) believe the government should be providing grants and tax benefits to encourage motorists to make the switch.
A further 58% said if installing an EV (electric vehicle) charger to their home or driveway was free, they would be more likely to consider changing the type of vehicle they drove.
There are still some grant funding options available for electric vehicles such as the Electric Vehicle Chargepoint Grant, although many, like the Plug-In Car Grant which originally helped towards buying an EV, ended in June 2022.
With road tax or VED, once exempt for pure electric vehicles, set to resume in April 2025.**** Questioned further on the biggest motivator to persuade motorists to switch to electric, over a third (37%) said money off the vehicle purchase price, with 29% saying tax benefits or grants would help sway them.
When asked does the reduced mileage of a fully charged electric car make you anxious, 79% of those surveyed in Northern Ireland said yes.
On a further point when asked did they think the limited mileage and availability of charging points would restrict their lifestyle, a resounding 83% said yes.
The Northern Ireland Infrastructure Minister said there are now 30,000 electric vehicles on Northern Ireland roads which has more than doubled in the past 2 years.
However, this works out at just 2.3% of Northern Ireland’s 1.27 million vehicles. When the survey asked about the biggest concerns on owning an electric vehicle, the NI public had two main issues, with 17% saying a lack of public chargers and 17% saying the cost of buying the car itself is holding them back.
The Government ban has got drivers thinking, when asked if the government didn’t have a pending ban would you want to change to an electric vehicle, 75% said no. Ian Wilson, Managing Director of CompareNI.com and car insurance expert said: “While the majority of us still use a diesel or petrol vehicle, the fully electric option is high on the agenda for 2025.
It may be 10 years till the big change has to happen but it’s important to start having these conversations now. “Worryingly, 88% of those we surveyed in Northern Ireland don't think the UK is ready for electric vehicles.
People here are still reticent due to the lack of public chargers and cost of parts – we need to make the electric vehicle a viable option here in Northern Ireland, a society where the car is so important, especially given a third of people live in rural locations."
According to a DFI survey in late 2024, four in five people in Northern Ireland plan to buy an electric vehicle in the next five years but it also found that 8% fewer people said they will buy an EV as their next purchase than the year before.
