Drivers demand urgent return of grants to make electric cars and home chargers a 'feasible option'

Of those in favour of financial incentives, 93 per cent feel there should be grants to reduce the cost of home chargers, while 91 per cent said the grants should apply to the upfront cost of an electric vehicle.

The Plug-in Car Grant was previously available to drivers and gave them £5,000 off the ticket price of an electric car, although this was slowly downgraded to just £1,500 before being scrapped in 2022.

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The Department for Transport said the grant had helped the sale of almost half a million cars in the 11 years that it was in operation, including almost 100,000 sales in the first five months of 2022 alone.

Drivers are now calling on Keir Starmer and the new Labout Government to bring the grants back to help motorists switch to an electric car ahead of the 2035 ban on new petrol and diesel cars and vans.

Experts have identified a slump in electric car sales as consumer demand stutters and manufacturers look to boost profits with petrol and diesel vehicles.

Sally Foote, chief commercial officer at Carwow, commented on the data, saying: "The disappointing sales figures for EVs earlier this year prove that more Government support is needed to increase uptake, and it’s clear the public agrees.

"For the vast majority of drivers, grants on both home chargers and the initial purchase of an EV will be necessary for them to become a feasible option."

She added that without financial incentives and grant schemes, millions of drivers could be forced to opt for fossil fuel vehicles in the coming years.

Foote suggested that without a concerted effort from the Government to support the uptake of electric vehicles, the 2035 deadline to ban the sale of petrol and diesel cars would "remain an unrealistic target.”

Labour has pledged to reinstate the original 2030 deadline to ban polluting car and van sales, with a Government source telling GB News that an announcement would be made "in due course".

The Liberal Democrats pledged to reintroduce the Plug-in Car Grant in its election manifesto as well as restoring the original 2030 deadline for the ban on sales of new internal combustion engine vehicles.

Similarly, the Green Party said it would want all petrol and diesel vehicles replaced by electric cars within a decade through an extensive vehicle scrappage scheme, boosted by £5billion of funding every year.

Drivers included in the survey also supported measures to reduce VAT on public charging. This would see VAT rates slashed from 20 per cent to just five per cent - matching the rate of home chargers and ending the so-called "pavement tax".

Younger groups were the most supportive of measures to roll out more zero emission vehicles on roads, with two-thirds of those under 25 backing the measures.

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In comparison, almost half (48 per cent) of those under 55 and older agreed, making it the only age group where the majority were not in favour of incentives.

Around a quarter (24 per cent) of respondents said they were against EV incentives, with six in 10 saying that drivers should bear the financial burden rather than the taxpayer.

More than a third also said that manufacturers should be responsible for slashing prices and encouraging the growth of electric vehicles around the UK.