Nearly nine out of 10 people (88%) support government plans for ‘charging gullies’, which allow residents without off-street parking to charge from home.

Such cross-pavement channels can be deployed in pavements to allow electric car charging on terraced streets, helping EV drivers benefit from cheaper, domestic tariffs.

The Government is trying to fast-track their rollout through a new £25m Electric Vehicle Pavement Channels Grant that funds local authorities to install in England.

MPs have also called for amendments to the Government’s flagship Planning and Infrastructure Bill to help cross-pavement charging solutions be installed more easily, bringing them into line with permissions for public EV infrastructure.

Research by Startline Motor Finance shows 62% think the new grant will make it practical for people in terraces to buy an electric car and 37% that it will enable them to access cheaper home charging.

Also, 31% say it is a simple and effective solution that’s easily installed and 16% that it will stop people trailing cables across pavements.

Objections are limited, with 6% pointing out that people in terraces often can’t park directly outside their home to access gully charging, 3% that installation will cause disruption and 2% that the current £25m allocated by the Government is not enough money to make a national impact.

Paul Burgess, CEO at Startline Motor Finance, said: “Around a quarter of people in the UK live in terraced houses with no access to off-road parking and therefore nowhere to install an electric car charger. That makes it effectively impossible for them to give up their existing petrol and diesel cars without having to use expensive public chargers.

“Charging gullies are a simple and effective solution to this, and the £25m allocated by the Government should go some way to helping people living in these homes to electrify in the future, being able to charge their cars using low-cost, domestic power.

“As our data shows, there are very few objections to this move but some people do correctly identify that drivers aren’t always able to park directly outside their home, and this is an issue that is not easily overcome.”

The Startline Used Car Tracker is compiled monthly for Startline Motor Finance by APD Global Research. For September, 301 consumers and 60 dealers were questioned.