Brands face an even greater challenge in 2025
The EV market went from strength to strength in 2024 with more than 380k new EVs registered, taking the total number of EVs on the road to around 1.3m. However, in spite of this landmark, it still fell short of the government’s target that 22% of new car sales should be EVs, coming in at 19.6% of the year’s total (1).
The crux of the problem is the slower adoption of EVs by consumers compared to business & fleet buyers. Brands are now presented with an even greater challenge in 2025, with the government increasing the target to 28% whilst simultaneously revising the incentives available to consumers. To enable brands to reach these targets and accelerate consumer adoption of EVs, their marketing activity must reflect a deep understanding of the varied auto intender audiences, their distinct needs and mindsets.
Using Starcount’s rich and varied data sets we have created a report on How Brands Can Drive the Adoption of EVs in 2025, and in this blog, we will explore several of the key market and audience insights that can help marketeers achieve their goals.
How is charging point availability shaping the opportunity?
The evolving EV landscape is contributing to significant shifts in the audience complexion and the opportunities available to brands. For a long time we have seen range anxiety stated as the number 1 barrier to entry for consumers with concerns relating to battery life and the availability of charging stations. Therefore, it is perhaps unsurprising that we find the penetration of EV’s is more than twice as high in the areas with the greatest charging station density compared to the areas with the lowest density.
However, rapid infrastructure expansion has led to a considerable decline in concern relating to charging point availability, dropping from 37% to 23% in 2024 (2). The investment in infrastructure is significantly expanding the geographic scope of the growth opportunity as we find that the fastest growth of new customers is coming from outside of the areas with the greatest density of charging points and in the second and third quintiles. In these geos the rollout of charging points appears to have sufficient momentum and crossed a crucial threshold for consumers that provides the fertile foundation for brands to tap into.
Where is growth coming from?
The EV audience has been shaped by the historic premium associated with an EV. Affluent consumers with an income of over £60k represent 29% of customers within the category compared to only 11% for their petrol & diesel counterparts. However, the growth of EV ownership amongst these early adopters has slowed to low single digits and the opportunity for brands with this segment will be focused on trade ups, competitor conquesting, and converting these consumers into fully electric households.
To fuel category growth brands need to turn their attention to less affluent consumers, particularly those earning under £30k who represent 50% of the petrol & diesel market. Whilst the availability of more affordable models is opening the door for more consumers, the shift in average prices alone may not be sufficient as lingering perceptions or misconceptions related to affordability provide a mental barrier. This is seen in the fact that 37% of autos intenders still see price as a key concern (3) and although we saw a +22% increase in the number of new customers under £30k this growth rate would not be sufficient to meet EV sales targets.
Where can brands find new EV customers?
One of the key opportunity audiences we have identified outside of the EV market is ‘Cautious Families’ and using our Connect platform we can understand more about who these prospective buyers are. We find that these are households with younger children typically situated in smaller towns and suburbs, a mass media audience for whom reality TV and social influencers are particularly influential, with a lower average income than the existing EV audience. As a result they have to be mindful of their household finances, but their spending indicates that they will happily skimp on themselves to treat their kids or to create family memories.
We get a clear view on the role their car plays in the household by examining their regular journeys, key destinations, and the autos brands they are interested in. Dependability is the key for these high mileage motorists as it powers them through their everyday with their long distance commutes and the school run, as well as through the weekend with their family days out whether escapes to the coast or the range of Merlin Attractions. When it comes to their choice of brand, they prioritize reliability, safety, and value for money favoring trusted brands like Ford, VW, and Skoda. To tap into this audience brands need to craft the right message that speaks directly to their need for dependability and what this means in relation to the daily challenges that they face.
How can we increase the impact of EV marketing?
In spite of the plethora of strong brands within the autos category and the exciting assets to play with, adverts have often followed a familiar formula and struggled to make an impact with consumers. System 1’s analysis of UK car adverts found that 80% were predicted to have a modest or low impact on market share, underperforming more functional categories including Oral Hygiene and Printers & Photocopiers (4). The increasing prominence of EV adverts has thus far struggled to break through this monotony as environmental messaging appears to have limited resonance with autos intenders. Brands need to give their EV product lines their own distinctive character which sets them apart from traditional autos and speaks more to the realities of the UK driver’s experience.
Marketeers can find inspiration in other categories where brands have had success challenging consumers to behave differently such as from Oatly, Who Gives a Crap, or Gousto. Whether its Oatly’s unapologetic and blunt approach to addressing common barriers to entry, Gousto focusing on their solution to category pain points, or Who Gives A Crap using humour to communicate their fundamental ecological mission. These companies have emerged from the shadows of more rigid incumbents, and through their own unique blend of branding and advertising they have set themselves apart from the competition.
Turning insight into action
Finding the relevant focus and distinct positioning for brands is naturally easier said than done with many threads available to pursue. However, utilising a behaviour change model such as COM-B(5) can provide a really useful framework to help you distill the market & audience insights you have gathered and prioritise intervention strategies that will have the greatest impact.
For instance, with our Cautious Families audience we may want to focus on addressing mental barriers to entry through creative messaging that challenges outdated misconceptions about the charging experience, communicating the greater availability of charging points and improved charging speed that ensures dependability. Through the incorporation of parenting influencers in relatable day to day situations and environments into the creative visuals it can provide an element of social proof for these consumers typically outside of the EV category’s orbit. By crafting an activation plan shaped to their media consumption habits we can ensure we deliver the right message, in the right place, at the right time.
Whichever audience you are targeting the key will be crafting a marketing strategy that meets consumers on their terms and which leverages a deep understanding of your target audience to devise the right creative, channel strategy, and marketing calendar to drive engagement.
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