According to the survey, ordinary hybrids, like the Toyota Prius, took the majority of the votes in favour of an alternative fuel vehicle, with 19% of respondents indicating they would consider one of these vehicles within the next two years.

This was followed by LPG-powered and plug-in hybrids, which attracted 12% of responses each.

Hydrogen fuel cell cars, like the Hyundai ix35 FCEV, attracted as much interest as fully electric cars, with 11% of votes each. This was despite the fact that there are as yet no commercially available hydrogen-powered cars in the UK while fully electric car models have been widely available for four years.

There were regional differences; fully electric cars were much more warmly received in the North East where 18% of responses indicated an interest in Eves. This is likely due to the North East being one of the first parts of the country to become a “Plugged in Place”, with an early network of public chargers established, as well as being home to Nissan’s Sunderland plant, where the carmaker has been manufacturing its fully electric LEAF model since March 2013.

Younger generations were found to be more positive about alternative fuel vehicles, with the 18-24 age group the most likely to consider a plug-in hybrid, hydrogen fuelled car, and a fully electric car. Those in the 25-34 age group were the most likely to consider a non-rechargeable hybrid.

Dave Timmis, MD of ContractHireAndLeasing.com, commented: ‘Motorists appear to be increasingly interested in alternative fuel vehicles, as they look for vehicles which are cost effective to run.

‘Particularly in the contract hire sector, customers are more able to overlook the typically high price tags of some of the newest alternative fuel vehicles and focus on tax and fuel efficiency benefits they offer.’