London and Newcastle upon Tyne ranked as “best cities” for electric vehicle drivers

New research from electric vehicle insuring specialist Saga Insurance has revealed which UK city is the most well equipped for electric vehicle drivers.

With more than half of all vehicle sales forecast to be electric by 2040, the research explores which city is the “best place” to drive an EV. A range of factors were analysed, including the availability of charging points, accessibility to off-street parking, cost of charging and clean air zones.

Each city was scored per dataset to create a unique ranking and the research finds Greater London as the most electric-friendly city, followed by Newcastle upon Tyne. In the third quarter of 2021, the number of ultra-low emission vehicle (ULEV) registrations in the UK rose by 40 per cent year-on-year.

Saga commissioned a survey to uncover public opinion towards electric vehicles to better understand this “significant shift”, finding that most EV drivers are motivated particularly by environmental and financial reasons. The top reasons drivers switched to an electric vehicle were:

  • They are better for the environment (45 per cent)
  • To save on fuel costs (43 per cent)
  • Access to fast, easy home charging (28 per cent)
  • Everyone will have to change eventually, so I wanted to get ahead (26 per cent)

Saga’s ranking reveals that Greater London is the most electric-friendly city, followed by Newcastle upon Tyne in second place. Two Scottish cities rank in the top five: Glasgow is the third best city for EVs, and Edinburgh follows behind in fifth place.

For those who are still considering a switch to EV but haven’t yet committed, 55 per cent of non-EV drivers said being able to save on fuel costs was their top reason for considering the switch. This was closely followed by EVs being better for the environment, cited by 54 per cent of respondents.

The UK government has pledged £620m in EV grants and infrastructure, but Saga claims that by 2030 we will need “more than 10 times the number of charge points” than currently exist today.

Martin Broom, motor and home product director at Saga commented: “It’s great to see there’s a maintained appetite for electric vehicles, with 68 per cent of UK drivers actively considering the switch. It’s also encouraging that our data finds 63 per cent of over 55s specifically want to switch due to the positive environmental impact of EVs.”

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