Register for free and continue reading
Join our growing army of changemakers and get unlimited access to our premium content
Those are the key findings of a new survey released on Monday (19 September) by Japanese carmaker Nissan, which assessed the views of 2,500 millennials – people born between 1982 and 2004 – towards electric and hybrid vehicles.
“We’ve always known that millennials are the challenger generation but our European study has also revealed that they’re the future ‘change-makers’ – willing to make drastic lifestyle choices to make a meaningful difference to the world they live in,” said Nissan Europe’s director of electric vehicles Gareth Dunsmore.
“It gives me immeasurable hope to see that millennials believe electric vehicles… are part of the solution for a more sustainable future. As an industry we must work harder to engage the interests and needs of this group.”
Nissan’s survey, which focused on the UK, France, Italy, Germany and Spain, goes on to reveal that the majority of millennials are more concerned with global environmental issues such as climate change (53%) and air pollution (42%) than with ‘smaller-scale’ issues such as recycling and overflowing landfills. They consider green car adoption as the best way they can mitigate these issues, Nissan says.
The results of the survey were revealed at ‘radical ideas’-themed event, FutureFest 2016, at the Tobacco Dock in London. It is the latest in a line of surveys that demonstrate people’s increasing willingness to transition towards an EV-based future.
Last week, edie reported that the majority of London taxi drivers (80%) were interested in switching too new, ultra-low emission cabs, according to a survey by the London Taxi Company. Meanwhile, HPL Motors rescently released a separate study which suggested that one in four UK citizens would sell their vehicle in favour of signing up to a driverless car subscription service.
The survey also follows an announcement from the Renault-Nissan Alliance reported that it had sold 350,000 EVs since the release of the Nissan LEAF in December 2010.
edie timeline: The EV transition, in 12 months…
Take a look through the timeline below to read all of the key automotive industry updates and announcements over the past 12 months.
- 18 September 2015 – VW scandal uncovered
- 29 September – Hydrogen coalition launches EU-wide EV project
- 15 October – Toyota targets 90% emissions reduction by 2050
- 29 October – Nissan unveils self-driving ‘EV of the future’
- 29 October – EU eases car emissions limit in spite of VW scandal
- 16 November – Kia kick-starts autonomous EV development with $12bn roadmap
- 4 December – Report: One-third of Britain’s power networks could be overloaded by EV charging
- 10 December – Nissan says its ‘energy hub’ cars will store and return electricity to the grid
- 11 December – Ford accelerates EV transition with $4.5bn investment
- 18 December – Nissan and Renault back UK EV policy shift
- 4 January 2016 – Heathrow goes electric with £2m EV charging pledge
- 7 January – Longer-range EVs take centre stage at CES 2016
- 8 January – UK low-emission vehicles secure largest-ever market share
- 18 January – UK Government pledges £75m for low-carbon vehicle projects
- 25 January – London and Bristol make the cut for £40m ‘green car revolution’
- 29 January – London unveils first zero-emission driverless cars based on Heathrow ‘pods’
- 2 February – Britain’s driverless cars prospects receive £20m funding boost
- 9 February – Tesla and Google lead the way in electric vehicle infrastructure push
- 18 February – Aston Martin adds touch of luxury to EV market with ‘RapidE’ concept
- 22 February – General Motors re-brands engineering arm to reflect era of EVs
- 25 February – Honda pledges to electrify two-thirds of its vehicle portfolio by 2030
- 26 February – BNEF report: EVs will represent 35% of all car sales by 2040
- 26 February – Tesla’s Model S leapfrogs Nissan’s Leaf as top choice for new EVs
- 1 March – Nissan powers French office with world’s largest EV battery storage system
- 22 March – Ford and General Motors ‘at risk of losing billions in emissions penalties’
- 1 April – Tesla Model 3: Elon Musk unveils highly-anticipated ‘affordable’ electric car
- 20 April – Mitsubishi expresses ‘deep apologies’ after falsifying fuel economy tests
- 21 April – Volvo targets a million EV cars by 2025
- 22 April – Britain’s diesel car emissions ‘five times over EU limits’
- 28 April – Volvo says its driverless cars are heading for London to reduce pollution
- 29 April – Electric cars to become ‘hallmark’ of VW’s portfolio
- 11 May – Nissan revs up for ‘decade of disruption’ with UK’s first vehicle-to-grid energy storage system
- 11 May – UK Government aims to triple hydrogen vehicle numbers with £2m funding pot
- 17 May – Convenience and customisation will shape electric cars of the future, says Tesla’s UK director
- 7 June – Westminster set for electric vehicle boon with new car sharing scheme
- 20 June – European Commission warned of emissions cheating ‘five years before VW scandal’
- 4 July – Internet of Things paves way for connected cars of the future, says BT’s sustainability chief
- 6 July – One in four Brits would sign up to a driverless car membership scheme, survey finds
- 11 July – Every car on the road will be electric within 15 years, says Richard Branson
- 21 July – Vehicle emissions standard forms ‘centrepiece’ of EU’s low-carbon vision
- 22 July – Elon Musk unveils ‘part deux’ of the Tesla master plan
- 3 August – Report: EV charging stations will overtake petrol stations by 2020
- 5 August – Nissan unveils world’s first bio-ethanol electric vehicle and zero-emission sports car
- 16 August – Nissan data reveals spike in public awareness over air pollution
- 26 August – Tesla unveils high-energy model S battery
- 31 August – Emissions from new diesel cars are still far higher than official limit
- 16 September – Report: ‘Paradigm shift’ to electric vehicles required to meet global climate targets
Alex Baldwin
Please login or Register to leave a comment.