Poll: Nearly Half of Americans "Unlikely" to Buy an EV As Next Vehicle

A poll making the rounds this month suggests that almost half of Americans wouldn't buy an EV for their next vehicle purchase, due to a lack of reliable charging and high costs.

The poll was conducted by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago and the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and only 19 percent said it was "very" or "extremely" likely they'd buy an EV when it was time for the next purchase.

Forty-seven percent said it's not likely they'd purchase an EV.

Eighty percent said it was the lack of charging infrastructure that was the primary reason they wouldn't buy an EV. That was consistent whether the person lived in an urban, rural, or suburban area.

This poll came out right after the Biden administration unveiled proposed fuel-economy rules that could require 67 percent of new vehicles sold to be electric by 2032.

As part of that, the admin wants to see another half million chargers on the market by the end of this decade. Companies like Ford and Tesla have committed to help make that happen.

Those polled were only 35 percent in favor of stricter rules that would increase EV adoption, and only 27 percent supported rules that would require new-vehicle sales to be electric or hybrid by 2035.

Forty-nine percent support tax rebates or other financial incentives for clean energy and 46 support federal funding for infrastructure.

Poll respondents were mixed over why they'd buy an EV: 35 percent said reducing their carbon footprint would be a major reason why, while 31 percent said it would only be a minor factor.

About half of the respondents think climate policy matters, with things breaking among partisan lines. Democrats thought climate policy was the third-most important issue out of six, behind only the economy and health care, while Republicans ranked it last.

The poll took place from January 31 to February 15, and 5,408 adults responded. The margin of sampling error was plus or minus 1.7 points.

[Image: Chevrolet]

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