New research has ranked the UK’s best and worst-performing cities in terms of accessibility to electric car drivers.
London was found to be the most electric-friendly, though it was closely followed by a number of other highly rated cities spread around the country.
Cardiff was said to be the least-prepared city for the switch to electric vehicles (EV), which has picked up pace after the government pledged to ban sales of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030.
The analysis, by Saga Insurance, looked at the availability of charging points, off-street parking (for installing home-charging points) and the cost of charging in 20 cities nationwide.
It also factored in the area’s clean air zone policies and the number of low-emissions vehicles already in use the area.
London scored maximum points for its off-street parking and rated highly for its density of charging points, although it was ranked fourth-lowest for the existing popularity of EVs.
Its 24/7 Ultra-Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) scored maximum points, a feat also achieved by Glasgow, Edinburgh and Birmingham where similar policies have been implemented.
Surprisingly, the capital also scored above the national average for the cost of charging.
Belfast scored by far the highest on the same measure, as it is currently free to charge electric cars all over Northern Ireland.
But the city only came in 11th place overall as it was slated for having very few charging points, virtually no off-street parking and no clean air zone policy.
Coventry was found to have the best availability of charging points, helping carry it to fourth place overall.
Glasgow, in third place, and Newcastle-upon-Tyne, in second place, both performed well on most measures.
The city found to have had the highest uptake of low-emissions vehicles already was Portsmouth, which came seventh overall.
Despite having a similarly high number of eco-friendly vehicles, Reading scored relatively low at 11th place due mainly to high charging costs.
Bottom-place Cardiff was found to have the highest cost of charging, very low availability of charging points and below-average off-street parking options.
Saga also polled 1,529 drivers about their feelings towards the switch to greener cars.
Half said their city was ill-equipped in terms of charging points, although more than two-thirds said they would consider switching to an electric car in the near future.
Despite the obstacles to charging in many cities, those against switching most commonly cited the cost of electric cars as the reason for their opposition.
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