Now into its second year, the annual Global EV Driver Survey this year involved over 27,000 respondents from 30 countries – and it has delivered an interest insight of many things from how Tesla is now viewed to views about battery life and fast charging.
Run by the Global EV Alliance (GEVA) – a network of 70 EV Drivers Associations from around the world (including Australia) – the results offer an interesting insight into both overall global trends as well as individual country variances.
Global highlights of the survey include:
- 83% say they believe policy measures are needed to increase EV sales in their country. (Australia: 95%).
- 77% say persistent myths about electric cars are the single biggest obstacle to EV adoption in their nations. (Australia: 87%).
- 58% consider the purchase price of the car to be a barrier to EV adoption in their country. (Australia: 59%).
- 45% of respondents say that lower energy costs were one of the reasons they chose an EV. (Australia: 41% – up from 39% in 2024).
- 86% of the EV-drivers said they were very satisfied with owning an EV – up from 82% in 2024. (Australia: 94%).
As for Australia: it seems that with experience, we are becoming less worried about the myths (like the battery isn’t going to last), but with that experience also comes greater frustration with our fast-chargers!
In regard to what effects this survey should have on EV policies: Petter Haugneland, Vice chair of GEVA and assistant secretary general of The Norwegian EV Association, emphasises the global relevance of the survey findings:
“This is a clear message to politicians in every country aiming to electrify road transport and increase EV sales: Policy action is needed to accelerate adoption. Politicians cannot simply lean back and assume the market and the consumers will solve this on its own.”
So back to that brand or country avoidance question: in response to the open-ended question of “Are there any car brands you would avoid for political reasons?”, the responses varied significantly by country.
For Denmark, it was 71%, but in Brazil it was only 16%. Interestingly, for Denmark it was 31% avoiding Tesla and 37% avoiding Chinese brands … whilst in Australia EV drivers were next less likely to buy a US made car (13%) than a Chinese made one (8%).
However, 45 per cent of Australian drivers said they would avoid Tesla cars. (Ed: It’s not clear that is reflected in official stats, given the plunging falls of Tesla sales in countries like Germany where his political positions are more directly felt).
For a fuller explanation of the results and the methodology used to come up with the global weightings, see: https://survey.globalevalliance.com/focused-view.
Note:
* To be included, a country must register at least 100 responses. Australia made it into the list this year with 108.
Bryce Gaton is an expert on electric vehicles and contributor for The Driven and Renew Economy. He has been working in the EV sector since 2008 and is currently working as EV electrical safety trainer/supervisor for the University of Melbourne. He also provides support for the EV Transition to business, government and the public through his EV Transition consultancy EVchoice.