We receive a small fee from trusted installers when you request a quote through our site. This helps us keep our content independent, well-researched and up to date – Learn more
- Autotrader said the barriers to EV adoption are affordability and lack of awareness
- These barriers are hitting the average family hardest
- Just 1% of EVs fall into the bracket of costing £5,000 or less
Households earning £40,000 a year risk being left behind in the UK’s transition to electric vehicles (EV), according to Autotrader’s No Driver Left Behind 2026 report, posing a threat to the UK’s net zero goals.
The report found that despite the rapid growth in EVs, lower-income households remain significantly less likely to consider an EV than higher-income households.
In fact, the report identified affordability and lack of awareness as the primary barriers to adoption.
With the UK’s median household income around £36,600 in 2024, Ian Plummer, chief customer officer, Autotrader, said these barriers are hitting the average family hardest and risk creating a structural divide.
“Lower-income households report limited hands-on exposure to EVs, so their perceptions of barriers, like purchase price and charging convenience remain higher,” he said.
The report followed a Budget that threatens to make EVs more expensive from 2028, with proposals for a new pay-per-mile road tax adding to running costs, as Labour attempts to tackle the reduced fuel duty income.
It was also found that nearly half of drivers (47%) said they were less likely to go electric following the Budget, compared to one third (34%) whose views remain unchanged, Plummer said.
On top of that, less than 50% (48%) of households earning less than £40,000 would consider an EV for their next car, compared with 73% of all households above £40,000 – which rises to 84% for households earning above £80,000.
Get free EV charging point quotes
Simply answer a few quick questions, and our trusted installers will send you bespoke EV charging point quotes – for free.
Analysing the current market, almost two-fifths of lower-income households buy cars priced £5,000 or less, and just 1% of used EVs fall into that bracket today, Plummer explained.
“Lower-income families are far less likely to know someone who drives an EV or to have driven one themselves, reinforcing perceptions of high cost and inconvenience,” he said.
Plummer also said that the report debunked a popular EV myth that prevents households investing, which was off-street parking. He said that 70% of lower-income households have a driveway, suggesting off-street parking is not the clear-cut indicator of EV consideration, or likelihood to buy.
The report concluded that without “targeted action” now on affordability, improving charging fairness by cutting VAT on public charging points, which can impact low-income households and renters, and cutting red tape for those without public charging, millions of drivers will remain excluded from the transition.
“We’re at a pivotal moment for the UK’s EV transition, but there is still a lingering wealth divide,” Plummer said.
“This new data also busts the myth that those who can charge at home will definitely switch – the driveway is no longer a clear cut. If lower income households can’t access affordable vehicles, we risk creating a two-tier system where the benefits of cleaner, cheaper motoring accrue to those already better off.”
Get free EV charging point quotes
Simply answer a few quick questions, and our trusted installers will send you bespoke EV charging point quotes – for free.
