Deloitte study: Half of Romanians want to buy electrified cars

Hybrid and electric vehicles are preferred by almost half of the Romanian consumers (46 percent), who say they would choose such a type of engine for their next vehicle, according to a Deloitte study.

Out of these, the majority (63 percent) would make such a choice due to the lower fuel cost, 49 percent are motivated by environmental protection, 47 percent by personal health, and 40 percent are attracted by the government incentives programs.

Most of the Romanian participants who prefer an electrified vehicle would choose a hybrid model, while the interest in battery electric vehicles still lags, only 7 percent of the total Romanian respondents expressing such an option.

“The trend towards less polluting vehicles is obvious in Europe, even if we notice countries where the classic engine remains preferred – the Czech Republic (74 percent), Austria (58 percent) or Poland (57 percent). In the first quarter of 2022, the market share of hybrid electric vehicles increased to 25.1 percent in the European Union, from 21 percent in the same period of 2021, according to the European Association of Automobile Manufacturers. In Romania, the sales of hybrid electric vehicles also increased by 45 percent in the same period, and the battery electric vehicles went up by over 400 percent. The evolution is remarkable, despite the low reporting basis. The mindset change is due both to the increasing awareness among the population on the impact of using the personal car over the environment, and by the European authorities’ policies in this direction. On the other hand, the waiting time for a new car is getting longer, because of the disruptions of the supply chains over the last two years. This is the reason why in Romania the registrations of second-hand cars, much more polluting, increased by 3.7 percent (about 400,000 cars), and of the new ones decreased by 4 percent (121,000 cars), in 2021 compared to the previous year, according to data published by the authorities. The trend reversed in the first months of 2022, but the situation remains worrying,” said Ciprian Gavriliu, Tax Partner, Deloitte Romania, Automotive Industry Leader.

The main reasons why Romanian consumers remain reluctant to electric cars are the lack of public charging infrastructure (23 percent), driving range (16 percent) and high price (15 percent). In the other European countries, the driving range is the main concern – France (25 percent), Germany (24 percent), Italy (22 percent), Poland (22 percent), Austria (21 percent), Belgium (21 percent), Spain (21 percent), the United Kingdom (21 percent). European internal combustion engine drivers would require electric vehicles to significantly improve their driving range before they consider purchasing one. The British consumers are the most demanding, expecting driving range to reach 700 kilometers.

Most Romanians plan to charge their electric car at home (49 percent), but an almost equal share (45 percent) prefer public charging stations. In other European countries, the percentage of those who want to charge their electric vehicles at home increases to 81 percent in the UK, 71 percent in Austria or 70 percent in Germany.