The great fuel fiasco: A golden opportunity for EVs?

Despite the looming spectre of a climate crisis on the horizon, we have yet to see mass adoption of electric vehicles. It’s true that the rate of electric vehicle adoption is accelerating but not at the rate needed to have a significant impact on the UK’s emissions. The reality is that, for many consumers, climate is simply not enough of a motivating factor to make the switch and, as of now, most electric vehicles are prohibitively expensive for most consumers. In short, there has yet to be a catalyst to drive adoption.

But that could all be about to change. Recent events have seen many petrol and diesel owners scrambling for fuel and subjected to that great British tradition of sitting in queues.

So with fuel now replacing toilet roll as the most recent target of panic buying, we look at whether there has been an impact on consumer interest in electric vehicles and if this is the catalyst needed to drive mass adoption.

A shot in the arm for electric cars

In short, recent events have resulted in a surge in interest in electric vehicles on our platform. We’ve seen the volume of consumers on our platform seeking out more information about electric vehicles i.e. how to charge, understand the terminology, watch and read reviews dramatically increase, with visits to our dedicated Electric Hub nearly quadrupling since Thursday 23rd September.

There has also been a surge in consumers looking at the range of electric vehicles available on our platform, with advert views for new and used electric cars on Auto Trader jumping up 28% and 61% respectively in the weekend of the crisis versus the previous weekend when all was well in the world of petrol and diesel.

So how does this look overall? Well the spike in advert views means that, over the course of the last few days, 1 in 4 new car advert views has been for a new electric car, an all-time record. And this isn’t just browsers, with a lead for an electric vehicle being sent to a retailer every 2 minutes.

The below graph showcases just what a jump we’ve seen in demand for electric vehicles in the last few days and, despite reassurances that the crisis is abating, how this has been sustained over the course of the week.

The rise in interest in EV came at the expense share of petrol vehicles, with petrol vehicle interest falling by 7 percentage points from 51% on the 23rd to 44% on the 27th .

It’s clear then that that the much publicised queues for fuel have made consumers think more seriously about electric vehicle ownership. We’ve seen many casually-interested consumers now getting to grips with the basics of electric vehicle ownership and thousands more now seriously considering buying an electric vehcile and going on to contact retailers.

What electric cars are consumers looking at?

And the good news for electric doesn’t stop there. Last weekend saw the Hyundai IONIQ 5 maintaining its spot as the most viewed new car of any fuel type on our platform with the Ford Mustang Mach-E taking the number 2 spot. These vehicles also maintained their position as the most viewed new electric vehicles over the weekend with the Tesla Model S seeing a boost in advert views as the most viewed used electric vehicle on our platform.

Top 10 most viewed used electric cars on Auto Trader from 24/09/21 - 27/09/21

1. Tesla Model S

2. Nissan Leaf

3. Tesla Model 3

4. Renault Zoe

5. Tesla Model X

6. BMW i3

7. Porsche Taycan

8. Audi e-tron

9. Jaguar I-PACE

10. Volkswagen ID.3

Top 10 most viewed new electric cars on Auto Trader from 24/09/21 - 27/09/21

1. Hyundai IONIQ 5

2. Ford Mustang MACH-E

3. Mercedes-Benz EQA

4. MG MG5

5. BMW iX3

6. Volkswagen ID.4

7. Audi Q4 e-tron

8. Vauxhall Mokka

9. Fiat 500e

10. Volkswagen ID.3



It’s not just cars

Much of the narrative around electric vehicles focuses on cars but there is also a huge market for electric vans and bikes and we’ve seen the fuel crisis have a significant impact on the number of people looking at these vehicles on our platform.

So far this year, we’ve seen 159% more advert views for electric vans than the year before. But even with this huge growth , recent events have caused a surge in interest. Last weekend we saw the highest number of advert views for electric vans that we’ve ever recorded on our platform. Views of new and used electric van adverts soared by 54.1% when compared to the previous weekend with the highest levels of interest being seen in the East & West Midlands and the South East.

We’ve seen similar trends on our bikes marketplace where electric bikes are now more popular than those powered by petrol. We saw an uplift of 30% in advert views last weekend vs the weekend before with Monday 27th September seeing the highest number of advert views for electric bikes all year, up 57% from Monday 20th September.

Will interest continue to grow?

Whilst this will undoubtedly be a short-term situation, we have clearly seen a spike in interest in electric vehicles as a direct result of the events of the last few days. This has provided a push to those consumers sitting on the fence about electric vehicles and has piqued the interest of many looking to avoid such scenarios in the future.

Despite the encouraging signs detailed here, there is still much that needs to be done in order to meet the Government’s Road to Zero plans. Electric vehicles are still prohibitively expensive to a significant proportion of the population. Our recent Auto Trader EV Update Report found that upfront cost, along with concerns around infrastructure and battery life, are the primary barriers for many consumers that still need to be addressed.

Only through concerted efforts by government and industry will we see mass adoption of electric vehicles and it is crucial that moments where we see a surge in interest in electric vehicles are not wasted and are utilised to better educate and incentivise consumers towards making the switch to electric.