Poll: Americans Are Less Interested in Buying an EV Than in 2023
While the future of electric vehicles in the United States is likely nowhere near as dire as many have portrayed, the current state of things hasn’t done much to inspire confidence. Flagging demand has led to cutbacks on new EV projects and investments in manufacturing facilities, and a recent Gallup poll shows that people who don’t already own an EV aren’t as interested in buying one as they were a year ago.
EV ownership grew, with seven percent of Americans saying they own one, compared to four percent last year. At the same time, people who don’t own an electric vehicle aren’t as hot on the concept as they were in 2023. Gallup reported that just nine percent of non-EV owners said they were seriously considering a purchase, down from 12 percent last year.
Americans are less interested in EVs overall, too, with 35 percent saying they might consider one, an eight percent decline from the year before. Less than half of adults say they were considering buying an EV in the future, and the number that noted no interest in the format increased to 48 percent from 41 in 2023. The decline in interest has led to a softening of emissions reduction goals from the government and has driven price cuts for several electric models from automakers.
Gallup pointed to income, age, and politics as key factors impacting the shifts it recorded. Pricing is still a challenge, despite promises of affordable models, and EVs have become a surprisingly politically charged consumer product as interest levels vary wildly between Democrats and Republicans.
[Image: Kia]
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Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.
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Regarding point 3, I found out the hard way how flaky and unreliable EA and L2 chargers were on a recent trip in a Polestar. It wasn't the end of the world but it was a -problem- when 2/3rds of the chargers were down.
Regarding Hyundai or GM I mean look, maybe their electric cars will last longer but both companies have had disastrous quality control and massive engineering issues for the past 3 decades. No way would I own another product from either manufacturer any time soon. (I wouldn't buy a Polestar either.)
I am no less interested in buying an EV this year as I was last.
I thought about buying an EV, but the more I learned about them, the less I wanted one. Maybe I'll reconsider in 5 or 10 years if technology improves. I don't think EVs are good enough yet for my use case. Pricing and infrastructure needs to improve too.
Same here....but keep in mind that EVs are already much more efficient than ICE vehicles. They need to catch up in all the other areas you mentioned.