This study says drivers are doing *more* miles in EVs than petrol cars

Despite a lack of consumer incentives and improving-but-perhaps-not-quite-there public charging infrastructure, all is not bleak in the world of EVs. In fact, a new study has claimed that drivers of electric cars in the UK are now covering more miles on average per year than their combustion-engined counterparts. 

Indeed, electric car drivers apparently averaged 8,740 miles in 2024, against a petrol and diesel average of 8,296, according to the Big Data folk at Solera cap hpi.

And if you’re thinking ‘annual average mileage has always been 10,000’, you’re still thinking in pre-millennium numbers. Welcome to 2025.

That 8,740 figure for EVs is up from 7,895 in 2023 and 6,355 in 2015. The data analysts at Solera cap hpi put that down to a few factors, namely 1) better choice of EVs, 2) better batteries that go further and 3) drivers getting over their range anxiety (well, some of them).

As for explaining fewer petrol miles? Well, fuel's not cheap, is it? Then there was that small matter of the pandemic which accelerated a shift in commuting habits, and the science boffins also reckon our increasing use of online shopping means we don’t pop out as much... which is, er, very accurate.

It means that all mileage – whether battery- or petrol-powered – has dropped some 12 per cent over the last decade, and that’s something definitely worth noting if you’re looking for your next used motor.