Browse
Log in / Register
Share
Electric vehicles are cheaper to run for most UK owners, but the savings remain heavily concentrated among drivers with a driveway and home charger, according to an EVA England survey published May 10, 2026.
The “Steer the Conversation” survey drew on 2,635 responses. It found that 84% of EV drivers with off-street home charging reported lower running costs than they would get from a petrol or diesel vehicle. By contrast, only 32% of EV owners without home charging could say the same.
Overall, 94% of EV drivers reported lower running costs compared with petrol or diesel. That headline number is encouraging, but the sharp drop for people who rely on public chargers points to a two-tier ownership experience.
The survey found that 88% of EV respondents are able to charge from their own electricity supply. For those drivers, overnight charging at home is typically the cheapest and most convenient option. Public charging, meanwhile, generally comes with much higher prices.
The divide helps explain why satisfaction and savings differ so much between owner groups. Drivers with home chargers can treat electricity almost like a household utility. Drivers without one must plan around availability, pricing and reliability at public chargepoints.
EVA England said the results show a fairness problem. People in flats, rented housing, or homes without off-street parking are missing out on the biggest benefit of electric motoring.
Only 48% of respondents said public charging had improved over the past year, down from 69% in the previous survey. That is a notable drop in confidence, even though the number of chargepoints across the UK continues to grow.
Drivers reported broken equipment, unclear prices and complicated payment processes. More than 40% said public charging costs had risen in the last 12 months. Among those who experienced a problem, 44% either did not know how to report it, could not contact the operator, or received no response.
These operational failures are not trivial. For people without home charging, the public network is not a backup option; it is their main source of power. If it is expensive, unreliable or confusing, the financial case for switching weakens.
The survey also captured a shift in sentiment around government policy. Some 38% of respondents said recent government announcements and policy changes had reduced their confidence in EV ownership. Only 5% said those changes had increased it.
The timing matters. UK ministers are reviewing the country’s electric vehicle sales targets, and there is ongoing debate about a possible pay-per-mile tax for EVs. Those discussions are creating uncertainty at a moment when many drivers are deciding whether to stay with petrol or diesel.
EVA England urged the government to keep momentum and stop sending mixed signals. The group wants consistent policy direction, lower upfront costs, cheaper public charging and stronger independent oversight of chargepoint standards and complaints.
Running costs may be lower for most EV owners, but buying an electric car remains more expensive for many households. Just over half of EV respondents, 52%, said they paid more for their electric car than they would have for a comparable petrol or diesel model.
Among petrol and diesel drivers who responded, 41% said purchase cost was a key reason they had not switched. That suggests affordability is still the main gatekeeper for wider adoption, alongside charging access.
The survey also showed strong loyalty among EV owners. About 93% said their next car would also be electric. And 71% said the public debate around EVs does not accurately reflect their own experience.
That gap between real-world satisfaction and public discourse is striking. Many drivers clearly feel the technology works well, but the national conversation is being shaped by headlines about targets, taxes and charging problems rather than by everyday ownership experience.
Dr Vicky Edmonds, CEO of EVA England, said the survey proves that electric cars work and that most owners would not go back. But she warned that the savings are going disproportionately to people with home chargers.
“Imagine being told you could save hundreds of pounds a year by switching to electric, only to discover that because you live in a flat or don’t have a driveway, charging your car could cost you more than petrol,” she said.
“That’s not fair, and it’s a huge missed opportunity.”
She also criticised the political back-and-forth over EV targets and new taxes, saying it creates uncertainty just when confidence needs to grow. The demand, she argued, is already there. What is missing is easier access to affordable cars and charging.
Regional EV groups echoed that message. Mark McCall, chair of EVA Northern Ireland, said the survey shows drivers love their vehicles and the savings they deliver. He called for a consistent, long-term approach from government to replace the mixed messages of recent years.
Neil Swanson, director at EVA Scotland, said home charging remains the greatest enabler and called for a more just transition. Paul Bevan, chair of EVA Cymru, said that while infrastructure gaps in Wales are narrowing, confidence is still being affected by decisions made at Westminster.
For US audiences, the UK survey offers a useful lesson. Home charging access is also uneven in the United States, where many renters and apartment dwellers cannot install a charger. Public fast charging in the US often costs close to gasoline on a per-mile basis, which erases the running-cost advantage for drivers without home charging.
The US Department of Energy has noted that charging at home is usually the most convenient and lowest-cost option. That makes the home-charging divide a national policy challenge, not just a British one.
The UK data suggests several practical priorities: lower-cost leasing for households on modest incomes, cheaper public charging, reliable chargepoint networks and consistent policy signals. Those issues are likely to matter in any market that wants to move beyond early adopters.
The survey lands at a sensitive time in the UK, with ministers reviewing EV sales targets and considering new taxes. But the underlying message from drivers is clear. Once people switch to electric, they tend to stay, and they overwhelmingly report lower running costs.
The challenge is ensuring that those benefits are not reserved for people with driveways. Making public charging cheaper and more dependable, controlling upfront prices and ending policy uncertainty would go a long way toward bringing more drivers on board.
