New research from award-winning market research company, Borderless Access, has revealed that drivers worldwide are calling for greater in-car parking and charging functionality. The survey, completed in May 2023 by 5454 motorists worldwide, including 2225 EV owners, surfaced that the majority of drivers regularly struggle to locate parking and EV charging locations and would value features that help them find available parking and charging destinations and pay for these through their vehicles.
The survey found that 92% of global respondents experienced difficulties in locating parking spaces, with 18% of US drivers experiencing issues every time they look for parking, combined with a widespread underutilisation of connected services. Meanwhile, 92% of global EV drivers feel anxious about finding somewhere to charge away from home, with that figure hitting 91% in Europe and 92% in the US.
Nearly half of US EV drivers reported running out of charge, with this occurring multiple times for a quarter of US EV drivers. Consequently, US motorists have a particular interest in in-car payments to simplify the payment process when they do manage to find a suitable charger.
Demonstrating the scale of the problem, half of US EV drivers fail to locate specific EV charge points at least once a month, with 22% saying that this is a weekly issue. Nearly half of EV drivers globally have encountered occupied or “out-of-order” chargers while looking to plug in their vehicles. Furthermore, 58% of EV drivers surveyed have received unexpected parking fines while charging their vehicles, including an alarming 68% of US EV owners, highlighting the importance of clear and accurate parking and charging information.
Eugene Tsyrklevich, Founder and CEO of Parkopedia, commented: “We know that finding parking and charging can be challenging in many countries, however, we were surprised by the consistency, scale and breadth of the problems reported by motorists around the world in our latest survey. This highlights the importance of automakers addressing these concerns directly and providing accurate data and the most desired connected services.”
Nearly 9 out of 10 respondents globally said they would be more likely to purchase an EV if it had ‘Park and Charge’ functionality, enabling them to locate chargers, get associated parking information, navigate directly to these and pay for charging (and parking), all via their vehicle’s media system. For 92% of current US petrol and diesel car owners this would reduce the anxiety of buying an EV.
The survey also revealed that 60% of global respondents valued vehicle-centric in-car payments and 48% wanted Single Sign-On access across providers, enabling them to access multiple service providers through one account in their vehicle. American drivers had the strongest desire for these features, with 70% of US motorists surveyed wanting vehicle-centric in-car commerce and 61% valuing Single Sign-On.
These results highlight the importance of automakers providing accurate data and the most desired connected services to reduce the stress and anxiety of drivers worldwide. Pre-registration is now open to receive a copy of the complete 2023 Global Driver Survey report.
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