Almost two thirds of motorists agree or partly agree that electric vehicles could replace their household's cars in future.

Car owners were surveyed by vehicle valuation specialist Glass's, which found 23% thought electric or hybrid cars could fully replace current ones, and 37% felt they could replace their second car of the household.

However, less than half could name a electric or hybrid car other than the Toyota Prius. Those that could named the Tesla, Honda Insight, G-Wiz, Honda Civic Hybrid, Lexus RX and Honda CRZ.

And only 9% would actually consider one as their next car purchase (0.5% for EVs, 8.7% for hybrids).

Andy Carroll, Glass’s managing director, said: “The fact that – after the Prius – Tesla is the most well-known electric or hybrid car is testament to the company’s ongoing aim to educate consumers about the capabilities of electric and hybrid vehicles, even though the majority of motorists are not in its target market.

"Mainstream car manufacturers need to be doing more of this in order to develop the trust of the mass market”.

Carroll concluded, “With the launch of the Nissan Leaf in the UK next year, along with the roll-out of the plug-in scheme, consumer awareness of electric and hybrid vehicles should really start to build”.