Fewer Americans want to buy an EV compared to four years ago, so what changed?

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Skye Jacobs

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In brief: When they were first introduced, electric vehicles held a certain mystique that helped to drive sales. But the aura about these vehicles has been fading as evidenced by declining sales numbers and more recently, a Pew survey showing that the number of Americans seriously considering purchasing one has dropped by 9 percentage points. There are many reasons for this decline, but one sticking point seems to be a lack of confidence that the necessary infrastructure to support them will be built.

The share of Americans who are very or somewhat seriously considering purchasing an electric vehicle has fallen significantly in the past year, dropping 9 percentage points, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. This is the first time the pace of growth has slowed in the US since mid-2020.

Several reasons for this trend were touched on in the survey.

Nearly three-quarters, or 72%, of Americans believe EVs require a larger upfront investment compared to gas-powered vehicles, and the average EV still costs more than the average gas vehicle. However, Americans are divided in their perceptions of the cost of charging or fueling these vehicles. Some 36% say EVs cost less to charge than gas-powered vehicles do to fuel, while 28% say EVs cost more, and 32% think the costs are about the same.

Widely publicized reports about EVs' reliability issues appear to have taken root, with half of Americans now saying electric vehicles are less reliable than gas vehicles, an increase of 16 points from 2021. Only 9% say EVs are more reliable, while 38% say electric and gas vehicles are about equally reliable.

Also, the perception that EVs are more fun to drive seems to have died down. In the Pew survey, just 13% say EVs are more fun to drive than gas vehicles. More than half (59%) say the two types of vehicles are about equally fun to drive.

Americans still rate EVs more favorably than gas vehicles for their environmental benefits, with nearly half (47%) saying EVs are better for the environment than gas vehicles. However, even here, EVs are losing their allure, with the share of people in this category decreasing 20 points since 2021, from 67%.

Perhaps the biggest factor weighing against EVs is the notion that there are not enough charging stations to make owning an EV convenient. Overall, 56% of Americans are not too or not at all confident that the US will build the necessary infrastructure to support large numbers of EVs. Another 31% are somewhat confident, while just 13% are extremely or very confident.

Your personal politics plays a role too – perhaps not surprisingly, if you are a Democrat you are more apt to want to buy an EV, according to the survey, and to view their attributes in a positive light. Republicans, meanwhile, express strikingly low confidence in EV infrastructure. Only 6% are extremely or very confident the US will build the necessary infrastructure, while 76% are not confident.

But personal politics only takes you so far with this issue. Only 19% of Democrats say they are extremely or very confident about the future of EV infrastructure in the US, while 38% are not confident. The share of Democrats who are extremely or very confident in EV infrastructure has decreased by 7 points from a year ago.

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Fewer Americans want to buy an EV compared to four years ago, so what changed?

 
Nothing changed.

Those that wanted one have one and those that didn't don't. That small percentage that wanted one got it and that large percentage that didn't want one still isn't looking to buy one. The market is saturated for those that are the target and now inventory is just building up with a whole lot of crap that won't move because it's a product that's not wanted.
 
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Home ownership is a key factor to be able to charge at home, which is decreasing over time as fewer people can afford homes with driveways and garages to have chargers installed in. General affordability of EVs isn't improving due to insurance premiums and part costs. While they do have less regular maintenance, the repairs they most often need can be very time consuming to have done due to lack of parts on hand and costly for a lot of consumers.

Add in the fact that EV range hasn't improved all that much over the last 5 years, which is the fundamental reason I won't be buying one for a very long time. My requirement is a minimum of 375 real usable miles of driving range at all times of the year throughout extreme heat and cold, which really means a 500+ mile EPA estimated range. Lucid is the only one pretty close to that, but I could quite literally buy 3 brand new Toyota Camrys for the price of 1 Lucid Air that has that quoted range.
 
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The bottom line is that people are now seeing the reality that has previously been hidden behind the hype.
Initial cost+range disappointment+underdeveloped infrastructure+increased cost of insurance+higher repair costs+resale value a few years down the line when the battery starts to lose efficiency. I'm wondering if those Eco warriors that buy them because they are "planet friendly" are curtailing their air miles as well.
 
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Trapped Nowhere said:
Why is there a push for full EVs instead of hybrids. That never made sense to me
Click to expand...

I had the same question as you. After a lot of research, the answer is politics and who benefits. Take a look at China's goals and who they work with. Remember Newsom driving around with the Chinese president in China's EV months ago? It's about controlling the market. The top leaders in America and around the world don't really care about the planet. Look up what stocks they own. Brandon and his son and other politicians are deeply involved, and this includes drone technology and security camera's. Look up Brandon selling 80% oil reserves to China and us relying on Venezuela oil which shipping pollutes more lol. Oh how about the open borders and look up Venezuela emptying their jails and weirdly the big man getting 10% in his pocket. My post should answer 3 different categories. https://x.com/DimitriosF2/status/1806768849355694201

It's easy to control a society with a vehicle that only relies on batteries.
 
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Trapped Nowhere said:
Why is there a push for full EVs instead of hybrids. That never made sense to me
Click to expand...
HYbids make zero sense especially in the USA where over 100000 miles is common, the tiny batteries in them get battered (unlike ev's) and are luck to reach 100000 km never mind miles. Then it's the price of the car's worth to get them replaced.
If you want a car with an engine get one, if you want an Ev get one, hybrids are worse than both.
 
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Almost every comment is on point. I will not reveal which ones are not because I have no need to disappoint those of you who are wrong.
 
It's not that mysterious or difficult to understand:

1) It's still significantly more expensive to buy an EV. Sorry but none of the 'Not enough stations' or 'grid cannot handle it' or 'range not long enough' would really matter if a comparable EV was like 20-30% cheaper than a gas car. And yes, this should be very doable given how many subsidies companies get for producing EVs the idea behind those is precisely to pass at least a significant portion of the subsidy to the consumers, not to pocket the cash and sell luxury car prices. TL/DR: Take a look at what Tesla does and regulate it into non-existence.

2) Propaganda usually works: there's enough gullible people out there that for unrelated political reasons buy into the climate denial propaganda. It's not a sizeable chunk of the population contrary to popular belief but if you are already not counting on the largest majority of the market as mentioned on 1) Simply because they're priced out, then then every bit counts and oil companies are extremely clever in their propaganda efforts and works well enough to keep EVs at bay.
 
The people who wanted them bought them. The rest of us will buy them when it makes economic sense to buy them. We are quite a long way away from that point. Not saying we'll never get there. I just want to throw some cold water on the idea that rushing out to buy a brand new car is good for the environment. The best thing you can do is reduce your overall consumption.
 
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The "green" types pushed the EV as "the next best thing". Save the world! Everyone should have one! Government will give you a break on the price!
Then REALITY set in. RANGE sometimes isn't what is advertised, ESPECIALLY in really hot or cold temperatures. Lack of available charging stations. Long wait times at fast chargers, having to prep the
battery (what my coworker who owns a tesla says he has to do), the cost of the battery if it has to be
replaced. Wear and tear on the tires due to the weight of the battery pack.
My coworker uses his for daily back and forth to work from home. It suits HIS needs and he likes it.
But for families that do any sort of travel, they aren't what they should be yet.
Not to mention the power grid can't handle that many EV's, not to mention 18 wheeler EV's.
 
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“ Not enough potential buyers believe the US will build out the necessary infrastructure”

Of course…. That would put the US oil thieves out of business…!
 
bexwhitt said:
HYbids make zero sense especially in the USA where over 100000 miles is common, the tiny batteries in them get battered (unlike ev's) and are luck to reach 100000 km never mind miles. Then it's the price of the car's worth to get them replaced.
If you want a car with an engine get one, if you want an Ev get one, hybrids are worse than both.
Click to expand...


Where do I even start on this...

All generations of the Prius (besides this unproven newest gen) have proven themselves to be practically bulletproof in terms of reliability. Put simply, this is because
1. Toyota overbuilt the first 2 gens of the prius even more than they usually did due to the fact that they were aware of reliability concerns. You can see the results of this from bumper to bumper.
2. Having a hybrid transaxle eliminates major wear/fail items off of engines, such as the starter motor and alternator. It also reduces the load the engine has to bear in general given the existence of the secondary power plant. This further improves reliability.
3. Toyota in particular (and many other hybrid makes) use something called an eCVT. This is different from your typical belt and pully CVT in the sense that it uses a planetary gear system instead, thereby being much more durable than a CVT.


Finally, Hybrid Battery replacements are only expensive if you get them done at the dealership. There are dozens of 3rd party companies rebuilding batteries for a fraction of the price, in some cases using updated battery technology to improve fuel economy over what it was originally. Others offer lifetime warranties on their batteries. And in reality, replacing these batteries is not nearly as complicated as some make it out to be, taking only a couple of hours and common hand tools. Maintenance is also as easy as cleaning a dust filter every couple of months.


So hybrids are actually the best of both worlds. You get lower emissions, better fuel economy, and still have the convenience of being able to fuel up at a gas station. Some have estimated that the amount of battery material that goes into a single EV can be used to make 20-40 hybrids. Replacing 20-40 gas powered cars with 20-40 hybrids will no doubt be better for the environment than only replacing one of those cars with a single EV.
 
Xclusiveitalian said:
Imagine buying a used electric car, that's like buying a used cell phone with the original battery, except its 25k to replace it lol no thanks
Click to expand...
I have a strong feeling a lot of people are simply not aware of this. My opinion comes from interacting with people who are not into technology. They just don't have any interest, do not read tech sites, do not watch related videos. So yeah, by the time there are millions of EVs with "expiring" batteries, it could be a shocking realization for people who drive their EVs gently and expect they can refresh or trade in their car with a good worth.
 
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This isn't even a real article. It's a summary of the link posted to some poll. She literally wrote nothing of hers.

https://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/electric-vehicle-myths

For those that are reading but not part of the maga cult living in their bubble of ignorance, don't listen to this nonsense. I had muscle cars and I had luxury cars. I've driven 6 figure gas cars. Nothing comes close to driving a proper EV. In a year of driving a Model Y Performance, I had $0 maintenance. Takes $8 in electricity to fill it up and get around 270 miles out of the full charge. The best AWD on the planet that no mechanical differential can match. Constantly improving with software updates. Drives itself to work and back. Two extra trunks in front and back due to no engine or gas tank makes it have cargo space of a large SUV.

It doesn't take more to insure it. If you mean a $60k EV takes more to insure than a $20k Camry, than yes, you are correct. It weighs the same as a gas SUV so there is no extra tire wear. The extra tire wear is from people flooring it because they never had a car with instant torque off the line. Tires on my previous Camaros didn't last long either. They make EV tires to handle the extra torque.
https://www.continental-tires.com/products/b2c/tire-knowledge/electric-vehicle-tires/

Tesla Y 4,456 lb 0-60 MPH 3.5 sec EPA RANGE, 279 miles $51,490 (minus $7,500 fed and minus whatever your State offers. I got total of $11,500 back)
2024 BMW X5 M Competition 5,468 lb 0-60 MPH 3.4 sec EPA RANGE, COMB 328 miles $143,295

A comparable BMW costs 3x as much. Oil changes were $500 at the dealer pre-pandemic. Every issue starts at $500 and there are a lot. I'll repeat again. I had $0 maintenance last year. Car stops without even using the brakes.

Range doesn't change in the hot. I've never heard of that before. Doesn't change in the cold either because proper EVs have a heat pump to keep batteries at the right temperature in the cold. Batteries will outlast the car easily. When you have to replace a battery in a Tesla, a gas car would have gone through 3 engines and transmissions.

Range will decrease by only 15% at 200,000 miles.
https://insideevs.com/news/723734/tesla-model-3y-battery-capacity-degradation-200000miles/

You'll only change tires as you get to 200,000 miles, meanwhile a gas car will have transmission and engine on their last legs. If you want to argue about that, how likely are you to buy a 200k gas car? You know that thing is about to fall apart. Probably a rusted exhaust system, clogged up radiator, whiny rear end, fuel pump ready to go. I've experienced it all first hand. Some enjoy hanging around dealerships getting their car serviced.

Another non-sense is lines at super chargers. What does that even mean? I waited 1hr at Costco to get gas plenty of times since I mainly fill up on weekends with everyone else. It's shocking to hear that there could be a line to fill up a car whether it's gas or EV.

There are laws here that require every new construction to have EV charging installed or be pre-wired for one. So even if you're living in a larger building, you'll have a charger in your spot if it was recently built. I ran my cable straight from the power meter. Easy. Don't even need to upgrade the breaker box. However, I would not recommend owning an EV without a home charger to plug in at night.

Most EV owners have home chargers, but no gas car owner has a gas station at his house.

 
Skye Jacobs said:
Fewer Americans want to buy an EV compared to four years ago, so what changed?
Click to expand...
The answers are simple. Lack of charge capacity/range, slow recharge rate, VERY expensive upfront and servicing costs, lack of user service options, too many intrusions to ones privacy and last but certainly not least, serious risk of battery fires.

No one wants to deal with the risks of burning to death in an accident. EV Car makers couldn't PAY me to drive in one of those death traps. I generally tend to move away from them on the road.

The battery technology platform desperately needs changing and improvement before mass-market adoption can take place.
 
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opckieran said:
Where do I even start on this...

All generations of the Prius (besides this unproven newest gen) have proven themselves to be practically bulletproof in terms of reliability. Put simply, this is because
1. Toyota overbuilt the first 2 gens of the prius even more than they usually did due to the fact that they were aware of reliability concerns. You can see the results of this from bumper to bumper.
2. Having a hybrid transaxle eliminates major wear/fail items off of engines, such as the starter motor and alternator. It also reduces the load the engine has to bear in general given the existence of the secondary power plant. This further improves reliability.
3. Toyota in particular (and many other hybrid makes) use something called an eCVT. This is different from your typical belt and pully CVT in the sense that it uses a planetary gear system instead, thereby being much more durable than a CVT.


Finally, Hybrid Battery replacements are only expensive if you get them done at the dealership. There are dozens of 3rd party companies rebuilding batteries for a fraction of the price, in some cases using updated battery technology to improve fuel economy over what it was originally. Others offer lifetime warranties on their batteries. And in reality, replacing these batteries is not nearly as complicated as some make it out to be, taking only a couple of hours and common hand tools. Maintenance is also as easy as cleaning a dust filter every couple of months.


So hybrids are actually the best of both worlds. You get lower emissions, better fuel economy, and still have the convenience of being able to fuel up at a gas station. Some have estimated that the amount of battery material that goes into a single EV can be used to make 20-40 hybrids. Replacing 20-40 gas powered cars with 20-40 hybrids will no doubt be better for the environment than only replacing one of those cars with a single EV.
Click to expand...

Well, your mostly right...but they also are not perfect and do not replace all of the pain points of standard cars.

eCVT is a bit of a misnomer. While, as you said, it does have planetary gear set, it's purpose is to match the vehicle speed to the desired engine speed for maximum efficiency. The starter motor/generator is a single unit internal to the transmission with the traction motor. The gas version of the ones I've worked on use a 6 speed transmission that have very few problems. While not a Toyota, the system is from a long standing cross license agreement,so almost identical.

You still have the usual maintenance items (oil changes, coolant, filters, chassis), just a bit less frequently.

As far as third party batteries, or rebuilt batteries, I'm not sure I'd want to drop $5000+ for a hybrid battery to find out they recycled cells from other batteries to put together a "rebuilt" battery.
Plus, you just don't do a"battery swap". The BECM and PCM will require some programming, which isn't free either. Not to mention your playing with 330 volts.

Plug in hybrids have larger batteries, which will cost considerably more.

Lastly, from a size perspective, a Prius is not practical for everyone.

Certified Lincoln EV tech and MKZ hybrid owner
 
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