Best Use of Thought Leadership
PwC’s global eReadiness 2025 survey captured insights from 18,000 consumers across 28 countries to reveal the real drivers and barriers shaping EV adoption, shifting the debate from speculation to evidence-based consumer readiness. The research is informing industry strategy, shaping discussions with policymakers and business leaders, and positioning PwC as a trusted, objective voice in the global EV transition.
Electric vehicle (EV) markets entered a period of uncertainty in 2025, with conflicting narratives around affordability, infrastructure and long-term demand. Short-term fluctuations were often misread as structural decline, leaving industry leaders making high-stakes decisions without reliable evidence. PwC identified a crucial gap: although EV businesses understood existing customers, they had little insight into prospective and first-time buyers whose choices would determine mass adoption. To bring clarity to a noisy debate, PwC created eReadiness 2025 – a global, consumer-driven evidence base designed to reveal adoption barriers and shift the conversation from technology rollout to consumer readiness.
The initiative provided an independent, objective source of truth when the market most needed it. PwC recognised that only a rigorous, globally comparable dataset could help leaders distinguish structural issues from temporary noise. The research focused on decision-stage behaviours rather than abstract attitudes, capturing factors shaping affordability, confidence, trust and real-world usability. Drawing on client engagements and industry conversations, PwC identified four dimensions of EV readiness: Government Incentives, Demand, Infrastructure and Supply, and built a structured index to compare markets over time.
To deliver this, PwC mobilised a multidisciplinary team spanning customer insight, automotive and energy expertise, policy, data science and market strategy. The result was a global survey of around 18,000 consumers across 28 countries, supported by a KPI framework enabling year-on-year and cross-market comparisons. A dedicated UK workstream provided deeper analysis of domestic affordability, charging readiness and policy confidence, ensuring the findings were globally authoritative yet locally relevant.
PwC communicated eReadiness as a global-to-local activation campaign, not a one-off report. The 2025 findings were presented at IAA Mobility Munich’s Smart Mobility Stage and live-streamed to more than 500,000 people, reaching OEMs, infrastructure providers, media, hyperscalers and mobility innovators. The report was supported by interactive online outputs, national indices and country-level analysis of charging behaviours, buyer preferences and second-hand EV appetite. Markets localised the insights through websites, social channels, media briefings, client sessions and industry forums. In the UK, it anchored the Automotive Summit and National Wealth Fund/PwC discussions; in Germany, OEM engagement; and in Italy, a Milan ecosystem launch with around 100 government, industry and infrastructure stakeholders. The campaign turned a global benchmark into decision-ready insight for boardrooms, policymakers and investors.
The impact has been significant. eReadiness 2025 has positioned PwC as a leading voice in the global EV debate, providing a trusted benchmark in a market crowded with opinion. It has anchored major industry forums, supported senior-level discussions and generated substantial commercial interest. In the UK alone, the study has informed work with OEMs, dealer networks, logistics providers and new market entrants. Across Europe, it has shaped strategic conversations with major automotive brands and contributed to coordinated dialogue between government, industry associations and infrastructure stakeholders.
As a platform, eReadiness continues to evolve, offering an evidence-based foundation for decisions shaping the future of mobility. By prioritising independence, rigour and consumer insight, PwC has created a thought leadership asset that cuts through noise, reframes debate and supports better decisions across the EV ecosystem.
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