Range anxiety: Non-EV owners twice as scared of running out of charge

News

UK-wide survey points to ‘knowledge gap’ that means perceived battery issues far outweigh the reality

MA

Matt Allan

28 October 2026 · 3 min read

A new study of UK motorists has found those who have driven an EV are far less worried about running out of charge than those who haven’t.

The research by dealer group Dick Lovett found that on average, just over a third (36%) of drivers said running out of charge was their biggest worry about taking an EV on a long trip.

However, digging deeper, it revealed that 41% of those who had never driven an EV cited it as their biggest concern, compared with just 23% of current EV owners.

It also found that the vast majority of EV owners hadn’t run out of charge in the last year, although 15% did admit to being caught short at some point.

On a wider scale, the data from the AA shows that just 1.25% of its EV call-outs in 2024 were to flat batteries – down from 8.26% in 2015 and close to the 1% of ICE call-outs for running out of fuel.

The Censuswide survey of 1,000 drivers also found gaps in other battery-related concerns. While 21% of non-drivers feared getting stuck in traffic with a low battery, just 13% of EV owners shared that worry. Instead, owners’ concerns were more practical, with EV drivers more than twice as likely to worry about broken or occupied chargers (21% vs 9%) and the cost of rapid charging (20% vs 9%).

Dick Lovett’s Alex Lee said the study showed that many drivers were being deterred from going electric by a lack of knowledge rather than the reality. The survey found that just 30% of non-EV drivers felt they know enough about electric motoring to make an informed decision.

Lee, a senior digital marketing executive at the retailer network, said: “Range anxiety is one of the most common things we hear from customers thinking about going electric, and it’s completely understandable. But our research shows it’s a worry that mostly belongs to people who haven’t driven an EV yet.

“Owners are far less concerned about running out of charge, and the vast majority haven’t. Once people have lived with an electric car for a few weeks, the question changes from ‘will I get there?’ to ‘which charger shall I stop at?’.”

While many drivers still worry that they lack the knowledge about EVs, attitudes are improving.

More than a quarter of motorists (28%) told questioners that improvements in public charging had made them less concerned about using an EV for a long journey, while 26% said the same about improvements in range. Among current owners, both figures rise to around four in 10 (40% and 39%).

A quarter of motorists also now have a more positive opinion of EVs than they did two years ago.