Survey reveals range anxiety is bunk — European EV drivers go further than ICE Luddites

Earlier this week, in preparation for World Environment Day, Nissan published a research that might put an end to myths surrounding EV ownership and range anxiety.

To help understand the driving experiences and perceptions of European motorists, the Japanese automaker surveyed 700 European drivers from the UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark.

According to the findings, European EV drivers are traveling per year 630km more than owners of petrol or diesel cars! Specifically, they are traveling on average 14,200km, compared to an average of 13,600km driven by owners of internal combustion engine (ICE) cars.

To illuminate matters even more, Nissan also explored the factors that keep European ICE drivers from making the switch to electricity.

Unsurprisingly, almost half of respondents (47%) identify greater range autonomy as the main advantage of their petrol or diesel car.

Similarly, of the 30% of European ICE drivers who are unlikely to consider an electric car, the majority (58%) mainly worries that EVs have low driving range.

It comes again as no surprise that they would be convinced to go electric if the following requirements are met:

• Greater EV range (38% of respondents)
• Ease of charging (32% of respondents)
• Better charging infrastructure (30% of respondents)

Luckily for all of us who support the EV transition – and not without a reason – the study comes to counteract these concerns.

An impressive 70% of European EV drivers remark that their experience of driving autonomy has been better than they expected.

What’s more, over a quarter of the surveyed EV motorists say that running out of charge (28%), slow charging time (30%), and EVs being expensive (31%) are amongst the biggest myths of EV driving. 

“With EVs on the cusp of wide-spread adoption, we can be confident these positive findings should help change the opinion of the ICE drivers for whom a degree of range anxiety is still preventing them from converting to electric mobility,” notes Arnaud Charpentier, Region Vice President, Product Strategy and Pricing, Nissan AMIEO.

Overall, what becomes clear from Nissan’s survey is that the main obstacle hindering EV adoption is lack of adequate knowledge. When drivers actually experience an electric car they find range anxiety isn’t an issue, charging the vehicle is just a matter of habit, charging infrastructure is sufficiently developed, and that in the long term an EV costs much less than an ICE car.

And that’s before we even mention the environmental benefits.

Do EVs excite your electrons? Do ebikes get your wheels spinning? Do self-driving cars get you all charged up? 

Then you need the weekly SHIFT newsletter in your life. Click here to sign up