EV owners less concerned about charging than petrol owners are by fuel prices

A total of 42,472 NRMA members, including 1730 EV owners, responded to a series of questions designed to understand the concerns of Australian motorists in what the largest membership-survey ever conducted by the NRMA.

The NRMA Index found that 68 per cent of EV owners were concerned about lack of charging infrastructure, yet 75 per cent of combustion engine owners said they were most concerned about rising fuel costs.

The survey found EV owners were most concerned about:

• Lack of EV charging 68% (13% other members)
• Poor road conditions 59% (61% other members); and
• Speeding/dangerous drivers 56% (57% other members)

Notably, 72 per cent of the EV owners surveyed say they are planning road trips in the next 12 months; eight per cent more than the general population. 

A large majority (92%) of EV owners said that they find travel “quite easy”, “very easy” or “extremely easy”. A slightly smaller proportion of the general population (89%) regard travel in these positive ways. 

Seventy-four per cent of EV owners surveyed say they want the NRMA to support the transition to EVs, in terms of chargers and consumer education.

With almost one half of the new vehicles sold this year being electric in some form, the NRMA survey confirms that previous concerns around EV ownership - such as purchase price and so-called ‘range anxiety’ - are diminishing.

NRMA spokesperson Peter Khoury said that while the EV owner group is a sub-set of the overall survey group, the responses indicate that significant change was underway on Australia’s roads.

“NRMA members confirm the raw data of monthly sales reports: EVs are no longer burgeoning, but booming,” Mr Khoury said.

“In a year of oil shock, 2026 will be seen as a tipping point. Motorists have in unprecedented numbers sought vehicles that run on Australian electricity rather than imported fuel.

“NRMA’s own cost data analysis shows that when whole of life ownership cost is measured, EVs are almost at parity with equivalent fuel driven cars.”