Affording Sustainability: What UK Drivers Really Think About Going Electric in 2026
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The State of Green in 2026
Every year, the gap between where the UK needs to be on sustainability and where most households actually are stays stubbornly wide. The government's net zero ambitions remain ambitious on paper. But for millions of ordinary drivers, the question isn't whether they want to go green — it's whether they can afford to.
To get a clearer picture, we surveyed 2,003 UK drivers who are also homeowners, asking them about the barriers they face, what they did to reduce their carbon footprint in 2025, and what would actually help them make greener choices in 2026.
The results are telling.
Cost Is Still the Number One Barrier to Getting an EV
When asked about the biggest barriers to getting an electric vehicle, 39% of respondents pointed to the cost of acquiring one. That makes it the most cited barrier by a significant margin — ahead of concerns about charging infrastructure, battery reliability, and range anxiety.
This finding mirrors what we already know about the EV market: the average purchase price of a new electric car remains substantially higher than an equivalent petrol model, putting a lot of people off before they've even looked at the running cost savings.
But here's the thing — that upfront cost concern largely disappears when you factor in electric car salary sacrifice. Through a salary sacrifice scheme, employees pay for their EV lease from their gross salary — before income tax and National Insurance are calculated. With the Benefit-in-Kind (BiK) rate for electric cars at just 3% for 2025/26, the overall savings typically come to between 20% and 50% compared to taking out a personal lease.
Put simply, the cost barrier that 39% of UK drivers say is stopping them from going electric is the very thing a well-structured electric car scheme UK is designed to solve.
The second most cited concern was access to charging on longer journeys (33%), followed closely by home charging access (28%). These are real, practical concerns — but they're also ones that are being addressed at pace, both through the expanding public charging network and through salary sacrifice packages that can include home charger installation.
What UK Drivers Did to Reduce Their Carbon Footprint in 2025
The survey also asked what people actually did to reduce their household carbon footprint last year. The results paint a picture of a public that is engaged with sustainability, but largely focused on low-cost, low-effort changes.
Turning off lights and appliances when not in use (42%), turning heating down (38%), and reducing plastic waste (28%) topped the list. Cycling or walking came in at 23%, and buying or selling second-hand clothes at 19%.
Switching to electric vehicles — one of the single highest-impact changes an individual can make — featured far lower down the list. That's consistent with the cost and charging barriers highlighted elsewhere in the survey.
What's notable is that the sustainability actions most people are taking are the free or near-free ones. The bigger investments — EVs, solar panels, heat pumps — still feel out of reach for a large portion of the population. This is exactly the gap that employer-led benefits like The Electric Car Scheme can help close, by making premium-impact sustainability choices genuinely affordable.
What's Stopping People from Going Further in 2026?
When asked about the biggest barriers to reducing their carbon footprint in 2026, 30% said cost is too high. That was the most common response among those who cited a specific barrier (42% of respondents said nothing was stopping them, which is encouraging).
Around 18% said they don't think individual actions will make a difference, and 14% said they don't want to reduce their quality of life. These responses are worth paying attention to — they suggest that some people have mentally disconnected from sustainability action, perhaps due to frustration with the pace of systemic change.
For employers, this is a relevant signal. Offering an EV salary sacrifice benefit through The Electric Car Scheme is a way of taking sustainability decisions out of the "sacrifice" category and into the "smart financial choice" category. When employees can save 20-50% on a brand-new electric car, going electric stops feeling like a lifestyle compromise and starts feeling like a no-brainer.
The Government Gap — and What Employers Can Do About It
One of the starkest findings from the survey concerns attitudes to government action. When asked whether the government has done enough to provide financial incentives for greener choices, 55% said no. A further 14% said they didn't even know the incentives existed.
That's nearly 70% of UK homeowners who either feel undersupported or are unaware of what's on offer. And on cost of living support more broadly, the picture is even more critical — 65% said the government has not done enough, with almost 19% saying government policies have made things worse rather than better.
This is a significant opportunity for employers. With government support seen as inadequate by the majority of workers, employer-led benefits are stepping into a meaningful role. The Electric Car Scheme gives companies a no-cost way to offer employees a genuinely impactful green benefit — one that puts money back in their pockets while reducing their emissions.
The complete employer protection built into The Electric Car Scheme means there's no financial risk for businesses either, removing one of the last practical objections to running a scheme.
Green Investment Plans for 2026 — and How People Plan to Pay
The survey asked which green investments people are planning to make in 2026. Solar panels (13%), LED lighting (12%), and EVs (10%) came out on top among those planning to invest in something new.
Home EV chargers were cited by 7% of respondents — a relatively modest figure, but one that speaks to the importance of making charger installation as easy and affordable as possible. Through The Electric Car Scheme, a home charger can be bundled directly into the salary sacrifice package, reducing the total cost and removing the hassle of sourcing installation separately.
When it comes to financing those green investments, personal savings remained the most popular method (37%). Government grants were cited by 10%, credit cards by 12%, and bank loans by 6%.
Employer-supported schemes — including salary sacrifice — were mentioned by just 4% of respondents. Given that salary sacrifice is one of the most tax-efficient ways to finance both an EV and a home charger, this low figure points to a clear awareness gap. Most employees simply don't know this option exists, or don't understand how much they could save through it.
That's where HR and benefits teams have a real role to play. Making employees aware of an electric car salary sacrifice scheme as a benefit — and explaining the savings clearly — can shift the number of people accessing it significantly.
What Would Actually Help?
When asked what would most help them make a green investment or replacement in 2026, the top answers were government grants or subsidies (48%), better information about running costs versus upfront costs (34%), and tax breaks or rebates (29%).
Employer-supported schemes were cited by 12% of respondents — again, relatively low given how valuable salary sacrifice actually is.
The "better information" response is particularly interesting. A third of people say they need clearer guidance on the true cost picture before they'd be comfortable making a green investment. This is something The Electric Car Scheme's salary sacrifice calculator directly addresses — showing exactly how much an individual can save based on their salary, tax bracket, and chosen vehicle.
When employees can see in concrete terms that a Nissan Leaf, a Renault 5, or a Volkswagen ID.3 costs them significantly less per month through salary sacrifice than a comparable personal lease, the decision becomes much easier to make.
Who's Responsible for Net Zero?
The survey also asked respondents how responsible various groups are for achieving net zero. Individuals (92%), households (92%), and local communities (92%) all scored almost identically — and all were seen as highly responsible.
Businesses and the government scored lower on the "primarily responsible" end of the scale, but remained broadly seen as responsible overall.
What this suggests is that most people accept personal responsibility for sustainability — they just need the right tools and financial structures to act on it. EV salary sacrifice is one of those tools: it meets individuals where they already are (willing, but cost-constrained) and removes the main barrier.
The Outlook on Net Zero
Finally, the survey asked when people think the UK will achieve net zero. Only 9% said by 2030. Just 14% said by 2050. A quarter said never, and a further 19% said later than 2050.
Public optimism about the pace of the UK's green transition is, to put it mildly, subdued. But within that context, there's a clear role for employer-led schemes that create genuine momentum — making EV adoption faster, more widespread, and more accessible to people across all income levels.
The Bottom Line
The data from this survey is consistent and clear: cost is the main barrier to going electric, most people feel undersupported by the government, and employer-supported green benefits are significantly underused.
That combination represents both a challenge and an opportunity. For UK employers willing to offer a salary sacrifice electric car scheme, the timing has never been better. The 3% BiK rate for 2025/26, combined with 20-50% savings on the lease cost and the ability to bundle in home charging and a charger installation, makes this one of the most compelling employee benefits available in the UK today.
If you're an employer looking to close the gap between your team's sustainability ambitions and what they can actually afford, The Electric Car Scheme is the most straightforward way to do it — at no net cost to your business.
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Last updated: 31/03/2026
Our pricing is based on data collected from The Electric Car Scheme quote tool. All final pricing is inclusive of VAT. All prices above are based on the following lease terms; 10,000 miles pa, 36 months, and are inclusive of Maintenance and Breakdown Cover. The Electric Car Scheme's terms and conditions apply. All deals are subject to credit approval and availability. All deals are subject to excess mileage and damage charges. Prices are calculated based on the following tax saving assumptions; England & Wales, 40% tax rate. The above prices were calculated using a flat payment profile. The Electric Car Scheme Limited provides services for the administration of your salary sacrifice employee benefits. The Electric Car Scheme Holdings Limited is a member of the BVRLA (10608), is authorised and regulated by the FCA under FRN 968270, is an Appointed Representative of Marshall Management Services Ltd under FRN 667174, and is a credit broker and not a lender or insurance provider.
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