Reading revealed as UK’s electric vehicle hotspot

With electric vehicle ownership increasing as we get closer to the 2030 ban on new petrol and diesel vehicles, new research reveals that EVs are most popular among drivers in Reading.

Reading has the highest insurance enquiries for electric vehicles (EVs) relative to its population, according to research from MoneySuperMarket.

The research from MoneySuperMarket reveals the Berkshire-based town has the highest number of insurance enquiries for EVs than anywhere else in the UK, at 2,016 per 100,000 people in the town in the past year.

This was 8% higher than Guildford (1,866 enquiries for every 100,000 people), which took second place.

Other locations featuring in the top 5 list were Stevenage, Watford and Chelmsford. On the other end of the scale, EVs are least popular amongst drivers in Sunderland, with only 101 enquiries per 100,000 people in the past year.

Looking at typical professions for EV drivers, 10.2% of all car insurance enquiries were for retirees, indicating that most EVs are owned by those no longer working. This is almost twice as much as NHS workers (5.9%), who were the second most likely to own an EV.

Despite the considerable cost of EVs, the data shows that three out of the 10 most popular occupations for EV drivers were from those who are not currently in work (retirees, students and homemakers).

Sara Newell, MoneySuperMarket’s car insurance expert commented: ‘It’s great to see electric car ownership on the rise as more people make the change from petrol or diesel cars.

‘Electric cars and vans have often been more expensive to insure than petrol or diesel vehicles because of the cost and availability of spare parts, and the common need for specialist repair works. But as more electric vehicles come onto the market, and with the government’s 2030 impending ban on new petrol and diesel cars, the cost of insurance is falling.’

Photo by Michael Marais