UK buyer interest in new electric vehicles (EVs) may be declining, data from the largest car sales website suggests as Tesla boss Elon Musk flags further discounts down the road to try and boost sales.
The volume of new EV searches, ad views and messages to retailers on the Auto Trader platform was down nearly two thirds (65 percent) from the beginning of last year to March this year, it reported.
Auto Trader attributed this drop to the on-road running cost of electric cars, sticker prices, soaring borrowing rates, more expensive electricity, and a lack of charging infrastructure, all amid a cost of living crisis.
Ian Plummer, Auto Trader’s commercial director, told motortrader.com: “These are difficult times for the UK’s electric ambitions, however, and we’re in danger of veering off-track.
“Although used electric demand remains buoyant, the wider EV market is in a precarious position. To avoid more than just a small pothole on the road to 2030, more information, more incentives, and more equality is urgently required.”
In January 2022, EVs made up 16.3 percent of new car ad views on the website but by March 2023 it had fallen to 10.54 percent, Auto Trader said.
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@domnatishow/ AUTO OVERLOAD/TMXWhile 27 percent of all new car enquiries related to EVs in the first month of last year, the number dropped to just nine percent for last month.
Disinterest may be growing as the company said new EVs are 37 percent more expensive than petrol and diesel cars and there are now fewer new electric models between in lower prices ranges than there were in 2022.
The UK has already announced a 2030 target to ban new petrol and diesel car sales.
The findings come at a time when Tesla boss Elon Musk is prioritising price reductions over profits.
Sky News reports he signalled on Thursday night, following the publication of the firm’s latest quarterly results, further price cuts were on the way as Tesla moves to bolster sales and market share in a tightening global economy.
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