The UK’s automotive industry could see a £7 billion (11.3 billion U.S. at the current exchange rate) increase thanks to plug-in vehicles by 2014, according to a survey conducted by GfK Automotive. Recently, GfK polled more than 5,000 drivers in the UK and discovered that there’s a considerable amount of interest in plug-in rides among the country’s car-buying public.
Of the 5,000 surveyed, GfK reports that 1.8 percent of respondents would “definitely” buy a plug-in vehicle by 2014. Given that the UK’s total vehicle-buying population is around 19.8 million, 1.8 percent equates to somewhere in the ballpark of 300,000 plug-in vehicle purchases, which is where the predicted £7 billion boost comes from.
In addition, three percent of respondents stated that they have “considered” buying an electric car, but many of them noted that concerns over “range anxiety” must be addressed before an actual purchase will be made. Hat tip to Andy!
[Source: The Independent]
