While electric vehicles are in the democratization phase, with increasingly attractive prices, not all drivers are yet ready to take the plunge. A new YouGov survey should not reassure those who are reluctant to buy a trendy car.
Conducted by the Danish startup Monta, which specializes in the management of charging stations, this study reveals that 54% of owners and tenants of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles regret their purchase. In detail, of the 618 drivers surveyed, 19% say they regret their choice a lot given the recent increase in electricity prices and 35% regret it in part. 36% do not regret choosing an electric or plug-in hybrid vehicle and 10% are unsure. Unfortunately, the study does not distinguish between the results obtained from owners of electric cars and those of plug-in hybrid vehicles.
Electricity prices rise by 10% in August
As a reminder, electricity prices increased by 10% in France on August 1, 2023, following the gradual lifting of the tariff shield put in place to absorb the rise in the cost of energy. Despite this, recharging your electric or plug-in hybrid car at home remains much more advantageous than driving with traditional fuels. According to the same survey, 62% of French people do not find electricity prices unfair.
For respondents, it is above all the lack of transparency around the price and accessibility of charging stations that leads them to regret their choice. Indeed, public charging points, which are very useful on major roads for going on vacation, for example, offer very different prices from one charging network to another. Where the prices of fossil fuels are clearly indicated, those of charging stations for electric cars are much less clear and generally depend on a subscription to mobility operators.
The uninitiated can thus be confused by finding themselves confronted with a fragmented charging offer, not to mention the sometimes chaotic experiences, faced with inoperative terminals for example. Manufacturers sometimes offer a charging card in partnership with a mobility operator, but only Tesla really manages to remove the brakes on the purchase of an electric car thanks to its network of Superchargers.