CEBR Fuel Duty Impact - Nov 2020

11 © Centre for Economics and Business Research 3.3. Affordability of electric vehicles A typical counter to those facing increases in tax on fuel is to say that they should use electric vehicles. We therefore look below at the affordability of electric vehicles. Table 4 shows the annual spending on both purchase of vehicles and on fuel by income decile for those who have at least one car available. The spending rises from £1161 per annum for the poorest group to £4033 per annum for the richest group. We have investigated the cheapest leasing cost for an electric car on the EDF website which is £2028 for a Skoda Citigo. We have colour coded the table. Those highlighted in yellow means can afford an electric vehicle, those highlighted in turquoise can afford with a squeeze, those highlighted in pink means can afford with a big squeeze. Those not highlighted at all would find it more or less impossible to afford an electric vehicle even if they had an adequate credit rating. So, access to an electric vehicle is a pipe dream for a third of the population and only available with some difficulty for a further 20%. Table 4 Annual spending on purchase of cars and spending on fuel £ by income decline Figures only relate to households with cars. Source Family Spending ONS Lowest ten per cent 1161 Second decile group 883 Third decile group 1114 Fourth decile group 1420 Fifth decile group 1801 Sixth decile group 2127 Seventh decile group 2468 Eighth decile group 2485 Ninth decile group 2487 Highest ten per cent 4033 3.4. Ability to use public transport or walk Another suggestion often made is that public transport or walking is an acceptable alternative to car usage. The government produces statistics that show who has access to what facility within various different travel times. The data comes from the government’s travel time research 7 and is shown in Figure 1. For the majority of those living in urban areas, most services are accessible by walking and public transport. But even for them 33% do not have access to any major employer (>5,000 jobs) and 56% do not have access to a hospital within 30 minutes. 7 DfT Journey Time Statistics : www.gov.uk/government/collections/journey-time-statistics d ata-tables(files JTS0102, JTS0202, JTS0302)