Estate agent Zoopla has become the first UK property website to add EV specific search functionality to its listings.
The functionality was developed in conjunction with Vauxhall as part of its Electric Streets of Britain campaign, which supports drivers looking for practical and accessible on-street parking near them.
It launches as new research from Vauxhall reveals 40% of UK drivers said proximity to EV charging will be an influential factor for them when they next move house. One-third (33%) said that a lack of accessible EV charging would actually deter them from moving into a specific property – a figure that rises to 84% of EV drivers.
Separate analysis from Zoopla shows that just 1.6% of listings on the Zoopla website explicitly mention EV charging in the property description, highlighting that many agents are missing an opportunity to showcase a feature of a property that is becoming increasingly popular.
Visitors to the Zoopla website and app can now filter property listings to only show those with a home EV charger. They can also locate the closest public charging point to an individual property using map and location data provided by Octopus Electroverse.
Zoopla will also display information on the distance between a home and nearest public charging point across property listings on its website and app, similar to how it currently displays information regarding the closest schools and train stations.
More than half of respondents (54%) to Vauxhall’s research said they would find it useful if property marketplaces showed the proximity of the nearest on-street EV charging points for individual listings.
Rich Hayes, chief operating officer at Zoopla, says: “We’re proud to be the first property website to offer consumers the ability to find the nearest on-street chargers to a property, and filter properties with home-charging. By improving Zoopla’s search functionality, our aim is that we will empower more confident moving decisions, particularly for current and future EV owners.”
