Electrified vehicle search terms almost treble in just one year
Used car service provider says EV searches still represent a small number of searches, though.
Online searches for all types of used electrified vehicles have almost trebled over the past 12 months.
Data from more than nine million used car searches show that terms relating to electric cars, plug-in hybrids and self-charging hybrids accounted for 1.34 per cent of searches, up from 0.53 per cent this time last year.
The figures come from iVendi, which provides technology for dealers and car manufacturers to show customers their stock.
Rob Severs, senior VP of product and insight at iVendi, said: “Electric vehicles remain a relatively small part of the used car sector with only very low volumes available, but our figures show that interest is growing at a pace.
“Search terms tend to remain fairly consistent over time and big shifts are quite rare so, although this represents just 1.34 per cent of all searches, it is a somewhat sizable shift and one that very much indicates the future direction of the market.”
The firm says it has added new intelligent search results based on the increasing popularity of EVs, such as ‘medium range electric saloon’, with returns based on official range figures.
The increasing popularity of EVs in the used market was also echoed by online car buying marketplace Auto Trader. In September last year, it reported EV advert views hit a record share of 26 per cent, while the recent spike in petrol prices has seen interest begin to rise again.
However, between September 2021 and March 2022, the site warned that EV advert views had dropped from that record share to just 16 per cent.
It blamed the high purchase price of EVs, saying that they are about 37 per cent more expensive than petrol and diesel vehicles on average.
