A new study of Irish car buyers commissioned by Toyota Ireland has found hybrids are gaining favour, but full electric motoring looks to be still well into the future.

The nationally representative study of 690 drivers intending to purchase a new or used passenger vehicle within the next 24 months, was conducted by iReach on behalf of Toyota Ireland. It found 26% of respondents are likely to opt for self-charging hybrid electric cars, while petrol ranked highest at 38%. Diesel accounted for 25%, with full-electric at 7% and plug-in hybrid at 4%.

Commenting on the overall survey findings, Steve Tormey, CEO of Toyota Ireland said, “In my opinion, one of the key take-outs from the research is that despite the incentives on offer for electric and self-charging hybrid electric vehicles, adoption has been slow and if we are to progress at pace towards a zero emissions driving environment more may need to be done to ensure that customers are considering alternative powertrains and moving away from fossil fuels.”

Of those who said they were unlikely to purchase an electric car in the near future, when asked about their longer-term potential to purchase full-electric, 2% could see themselves moving into full-electric within three to five years, 19% within six to 10 years and 24% within 11 to 15 years. Rounding these figures up and adding in the 7% of respondents who are likely to choose an electric within the next 24 months, in theory it will take until 2033 for 52% of the current driving population to make the switch to electric.

It is notable that preference for hybrid electric vehicles has now out-passed diesel as more than every fourth survey respondent (26%) intends to opt for a hybrid car. Looking to the future, 73% believe hybrid to be the smartest option for the next five to 10 years, a number which jumps to 89% for 18 to 34 year-olds.