Why are Americans less interested in owning an EV? Cost and charging still play a part.

Getting electric vehicles into the minds of shoppers, particularly low-income, nowadays is proving to be a difficult task, a new survey shows. 

Resistance to electric vehicles, or EVs, is becoming more entrenched for some consumers, with lower-income consumers still seeing EVs as out of reach, car buying platform Autolist said. In a survey it fielded between February and July of 3,104 buyers, 46% of those earning less than $30,000 annually cited EVs’ upfront costs as a major hurdle and a third said they had no place to charge where they lived. That compares to the survey average of 42% and 27% of people who cited these as top concerns, respectively. 

To ensure widespread EV adoption, EVs need to be affordable for all consumers, said Corey Lydstone, founder and CEO of Autolist, a CarGurus company. 

“As the market matures and EVs themselves become more capable, we’re definitely starting to see more shoppers view them as real-world possibilities,” said Lydstone. “Unfortunately, those gains are largely limited to higher-income households.” 

How’s the overall market for EVs? 

At first glance, the overall market for EVs has every reason to flourish. The top three concerns people have about EVs – price, driving range and charging – have eased.  

◾ 42% said EVs were too expensive to buy or lease, down from 49% in 2022 

◾ 39% worried about the range on a single charge, down from 44%  

◾ 33% were concerned about where to charge, down from 35%  

With more EVs available for sale or lease this year and government tax credits, prices are dropping. More models are also coming to market, giving shoppers more choice. 

But not all the data are positive, Autolist said. In 2023, fewer people (38%) said they believe EVs are better for the environment than gas vehicles than in 2022 (46%). Meanwhile, the number of people who said gas vehicles were better for the environment jumped to 13% in 2023, from 9% last year. 

“This was interesting to us because while EVs are often treated as an inevitability in the media and by automakers themselves, not everyone sees them that way,” Lydstone said. “Just because the barriers to entry are coming down, it doesn’t necessarily mean that all consumers are hopping on board.” 

When Autolist asked respondents whether they ever saw themselves owning an electric vehicle, 39% said yes, down from 42% last year, and 26% said no, up from 21%.  

Twenty-seven percent said they were unsure, down from 30%. The final 8% said they currently owned one, up from 7%. 

And many people are still buying cars that use gasoline. "Electric vehicles in the U.S. represent less than 1% of the 286 million running vehicles still out on the roads, and with automobile sales picking up, early sales data point to the majority of the sales non-EV or hybrid," said Quincy Krosby, LPL Financial chief global strategist.

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Lower-income people most wary of EVs 

Pessimism was most prevalent among low-income households earning less than $30,000 annually, with upfront costs and infrastructure needs making owning an EV more unimaginable. 

They were more likely to, according to Autolist: 

◾ Say they don’t see themselves owning an EV in the future. 

◾ Say there weren’t any public charging stations in their community. 

◾ Cite a lack of charging stations in their area as a key reason they wouldn’t buy an EV. 

◾ Cite their unfamiliarity with EVs as a key reason they wouldn’t buy an EV. 

“These results really hammered home the notion that it’s not just the high costs of EVs that are turning lower-income shoppers away,” Lydstone said, “But that there’s also a clear disparity in charging infrastructure that will be essential to solving before we can honestly say EVs are for everyone.” 

 Medora Lee is a money, markets, and personal finance reporter at USA TODAY. You can reach her at[email protected] and subscribe to our free Daily Money newsletter for personal finance tips and business news every Monday.