Price of EVs still biggest barrier for potential buyers
Wed, 04 Feb 2026
The cost of EVs remains the biggest deterrent to drivers making the switch to an electric car, with 58.7% saying it was a hurdle.
This is, however, more than 5% down on figures from 2024, suggesting the barriers to EV adoption are slowly starting to fall.
Just over 4 in 10 said charging was their biggest concern, again down from over 46% in 2024.
However, knowledge of EVs is proving a stickier barrier to overcome, with almost 20% saying it was their top deterrent – a figure little changed over 2024.
What’s more, those citing lack of model choice and vehicle availability in the EV market as a barrier has actually increased year-on-year, to just over 15%. This is despite an influx of new models, which is set to continue throughout 2026.
More positively, the report from Europcar found that 13% of drivers reckoned none of the cited barriers to EV ownership applied to them, up from 10% in 2024.
"It is encouraging to see driver confidence in electric vehicles is increasing," says Europcar consumer marketing manager Sarha Clarke. "However, there is still some hesitation holding back a significant number of drivers.
"Since we first added electric vehicles to our rental fleet, we have seen concerns quickly dissipate once a driver gets behind the wheel of an EV," she says. "We provide a detailed handover for new EV drivers to help them get to know their vehicle and take to the road happy and confident."
However, she added, while the cost of EVs is falling, they remain out of reach for many people. It is hoped the new wave of more affordable EVs due to launch in 2026 will begin to address this along with the Government Electric Car Grant – and finally be reflected in next year’s EV Barometer report.
However, the scheduled introduction of EV pay per mile - or eVED it's been labelled - in 2028 will introduced further costs for those wanting to switch to an EV.
