Nearly half of Europeans are convinced that the number of electric cars in circulation will exceed that of conventional cars in the next ten years, with the Romanians being the most optimistic Europeans when it comes to the future of electric cars, according to an E.ON study carried out in eight European countries.

A total of 68% of the Romanian respondents said that the electric vehicles would top the purchase preferences over the next decade. By comparison, only 36% of Germans and 33% of Swedes said the same thing.

The opinions of Europeans are also different when it comes to how things will look like in the next ten years. For example, 43% of Germans predict that more than half of the energy produced in 2027 will come from renewable sources. Almost 40% of the Turkish respondents said the same things, as well as 35% of Swedes and 31% of Brits. Some 29% of Romanians estimate that most of the energy produced in the country will be renewable. Less confident are the Czechs (18%) and the Hungarians (17%).

Meanwhile, 35% of the Turkish respondents believe that household robots will become a regular presence over ten years, the percentage being similar among Romanians (31%). In contrast, only 18% of respondents in the UK and only 17% of study participants in Hungary can imagine how, in around ten years, the robots will clean their windows, cook for them, or wash their laundry.

The survey, called Living in Europe, was carried out by E.On and Kantar EMNID on a sample of about 8,000 people in Germany, Britain, Italy, the Czech Republic, Romania, Sweden, Turkey and Hungary in December 2016.

Official data showed that the sales of eco cars in Romania, including both hybrid and electric cars, reached 1,237 units in the first seven months of the year, almost triple compared to the same period last year. BMW was the most popular brand among electric cars, with 40 units sold in this period.

Irina Marica, irina.marica@romania-insider.com