Nearly one in four UK adults (23%) is considering buying an electric car within the next five years, according to new research by Sainsbury’s Bank Loans.

The supermarket bank’s latest Car Buying Index, which tracks consumers’ car purchase intentions, reveals that recent Government announcements designed to boost the switch to zero-emission vehicles are convincing large numbers of motorists that their future is electric.

While 23% of adults are considering buying an electric car in the next five years, a total of 41% believe they will buy one in the next decade. The changeover is not likely to be immediate, however, with just 3% of those who intend to buy a car over the next six months planning to choose one powered by electricity, compared to 52% who will opt for a petrol vehicle, 22% who plan to buy a diesel car and 14% who will opt for a hybrid.

More than one in ten (11%) say they are ‘seriously considering’ buying an electric vehicle for environmental reasons, increasing to 16% who would seriously consider doing so if all petrol stations and motorway services had electric charging points.

The research also found that recently introduced vehicle tax changes were affecting the vehicle choice of many motorists. One in five who plan to buy a car (19%) said they would deliberately avoid buying new vehicles with higher petrol or diesel emissions because they are more expensive to tax, and 15% said they would deliberately spend less than £40,000 on a new car in order to avoid the vehicle tax surcharge.

Concern over potential future rules is also proving a deterrent to buying diesel vehicles for some motorists, with 19% of buyers saying they would deliberately avoid buying one because they fear new rules such as city centre low-emission zones would be introduced that would cost them more money.

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