EV age: Nearly 40% parents want their children to learn to drive in an EV in UK

Around 40 per cent of parents in the UK want their children to take their driving lessons in an electric vehicle, reveals new research by French auto giant Peugeot. The findings come at a time when the country has registered a record number of electric vehicle sales in September 2021. More than 32,000 units of electric cars were sold in the UK last month.

The research claims that around 25 per cent of the parents who took part in the study claimed that their children regularly pester them to switch to electric vehicles from fossil fuel vehicles. Around 28 per cent of parents think that learning to drive in an electric car and owning an EV will be much difficult than traditional petrol or diesel-powered car.

Interestingly, electric vehicles come with a much higher upfront cost compared to their fossil-fuel-powered counterparts. However, the overall cost of ownership for an EV throughout its lifecycle is substantially lower than a fossil-fuel-powered vehicle.

Electric vehicles are yet to find the stronghold as their ICE counterparts. However, the demand for battery electric vehicles are increasing fast around the world. A slew of new product launches, improving technologies for EVs aiding in better range and higher power, rapidly surging prices of petrol and diesel, tightening emission norms around the world, imposition of strict deadlines for phasing out the ICE vehicles in many countries are the factors playing crucial roles to boost sales of the electric vehicles.

Automakers around the world are trying to grab a chunk of the ever-expanding EV market. Several automakers have launched electric cars in the last few years across different segments. While the adoption rate of electric passenger vehicles is a bit slow, the two-wheeler segment is witnessing a fast adoption rate with a wide range of electric 2Ws being launched around the world.