Survey Says: 57% Of Americans Won't Buy EVs Regardless Of Gas Prices

Edward Niedermeyer
by Edward Niedermeyer

Gallup has just released a new poll asking Americans to rate their likelihood of making certain lifestyle changes based on different hypothetical gas prices. The result: 57 percent refuse to consider buying an “electric car that you could only drive for a limited number of miles at one time” no matter how high gas prices go. Only moving or changing jobs encountered more resistance. Clearly betting the farm on pure EVs is going to face some challenges…


Edward Niedermeyer
Edward Niedermeyer

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  • John_K John_K on May 25, 2011

    Hmmmm.... Funny how the greenwipes never consider the additional resources burned by taxpayers forced to subsidize all this crap. I can cut my fuel consumption but if I have to pay for someone else's transportation (light rail, EVs) then I have to use more resources just to break even.

    • Charly Charly on May 25, 2011

      You expect to break even? World doesn't work that way

  • Tommy Boy Tommy Boy on May 25, 2011

    Let us not forget that Comrade Obama is on tape proudly declaring that under his "cap and trade" regime electric costs will (in his words) "necessarily skyrocket." Now while he couldn't get cap and tax through Congress, his EPA is rolling it out by regulatory fiat. So those who assume that the "fuel" cost differential between EV's and internal combustion vehicles will be that great are, well, as naive as 2008 "HOPE" and "CHANGE" voters.

  • Daviel Daviel on May 25, 2011

    I am in the "would not do it no matter what" category in every one of the categories.

  • Manbridge Manbridge on May 26, 2011

    Gee Wally, those pesky freedom lovers won't bow down to (perceived)reality on account of other issues. -the Beaver Surprise! Surprise! -Gomer Since it has been observed that electric motorcycles are closer to their gas counterparts, how about eliminating crash standards for EVs? Double benefit of less weight /longer range and less CO2 breathing humans after accidents. Less population being the "no one wants to talk about" root issue after all.

    • Gedrven Gedrven on May 26, 2011

      @manbridge: Thank you for introducing the elephant in the room. Let the awkward/featherruffled/vitriolic counter-introduction games begin... Now that I think about it some more, I'd have to count myself in the "none of the above" category as well. I'm preparing to replace my ride with a smaller diesel (there should be a New/Used to this effect sometime soon. Hey, Sajeev...?) regardless of what happens with petroleum prices - at most, they'd hurry it up and keep gas-powered toys more strictly in the toy realm; I ride public transit whenever it makes sense for me, which is infrequently in the US and quite often in Europe; and EV technology is nowhere near mature enough to do what I need it to do, though I recognize that my driving patterns are in the minority. For commuters, they make a lot more sense than for roadtrippers/campers like me. If they had replaceable, standardized batteries that you could swap at stations in the time it takes to fill a liquid tank, I think they would be a truly viable alternative for city folk even at current ranges, and especially once prices fall to the point that average-earning 9-5ers could afford them as purely pragmatic decisions, not making statements.

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