Is Britain’s appetite for electric cars waning? Order waiting times fall 13% in 3 months

Waiting times for orders for new electric cars have dropped 13.2 percent in the past three months, according to a new study.

Motorists who buy an electric car in January can wait an average of up to 28 weeks for their car, compared to 35 weeks for orders placed in October.

Experts say this is due to an increase in production after two years of parts supply shortages that blocked orders.

However, cost-of-living concerns are also weighing on demand as consumers delay major ticket purchases.

The report comes just a week after pictures emerged of huge queues at Tesla Supercharger locations across Britain over the Christmas period, with drivers waiting for hours to charge their expensive electric cars while traveling to meet friends and family. attend.

Tesla is one of the brands with the largest decrease in waiting times for new models. In fact, they completely evaporated, the report says.

In recent months, Elon Musk’s car brand has been selling vehicles faster than it could import them into the UK.

Today, however, it has hundreds of its popular £48,500 Model 3 and £52,000 Model Y vehicles in stock for immediate delivery – some at massive discounts of over £7,000, according to market research conducted by specialist website Electrifying.com.

It believes waiting times for electric cars have fallen as motorists pause purchases due to higher energy costs and cost-of-living concerns.

This decline in demand is consistent with a gradual increase in supply as production recovers from the pandemic and other global events.

Drivers may also be deterred from switching to electric cars by growing concerns that there may not be enough public charging devices available – and that the grid will not be able to cope with the strong demand for electricity from millions of battery-powered cars.

Footage of huge queues forming at public electric car charging points over the holiday season fueled concerns about the country’s deficient charging infrastructure.

Industry insiders and electric car owners have called on the government to install faster devices to enable faster charging times, especially outside the capital and on motorway services when motorists need to recharge batteries on long-haul journeys.

Currently, of the 36,752 public charging points available in the UK, 11,515 (31 per cent) are installed in Greater London, compared to 1,106 in the North East, the latest figures show.

One borough in central London has more charging points than six of Britain’s largest regional cities combined; Westminster, with nearly 1,500 devices, has more than the 1,412 available in Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, Leeds, Sheffield and Birmingham.

As the UK aims to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030, the government aims to have 300,000 public charging points by the end of the decade.

The electric cars you can get your hands on quickly – and which you won’t…

Last summer, Electrifying said some battery models were experiencing delivery delays of more than a year, with some brands – including MG Motor – closing order books for some battery models due to high demand.

However, that is not the case for all car manufacturers today,

Other short wait electric models this month include the £30,000 Renault Zoe and the £37,000 Megane E-Tech, with some dealers offering delivery in as little as four weeks.

Order one of Volvo’s £45,000 XC40 Recharge SUVs today and it should be delivered within three months, which is a significantly shorter wait than consumers will experience when buying an electric car from some competing brands.

For example, a £51,000 Audi Q4 e-tron or a £64,000 BMW iX3 have wait times of nine months, according to the website.

Customers waiting for a new Volkswagen will also find themselves waiting longer than they might expect, with delivery not expected for at least 10 months for all their electric models.

Founder and CEO of Electrifying.com Ginny Buckley said, “The news of significant reductions in waiting times will be welcomed by many, but it also signals a change in consumer behavior due to the cost of living crisis.

“If the auto industry is to weather this turbulent time, it needs to consider the impact of prioritizing the production of SUVs and more premium models.

“As we head into the new year, we should see more affordable cars hit the market to encourage private buyers to switch; at the moment there are only three electric cars available priced under £30,000 and the lack of affordable models is having a detrimental effect on the market.”