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

Tim Healey
by Tim Healey

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]

Become a TTAC insider. Get the latest news, features, TTAC takes, and everything else that gets to the truth about cars first by subscribing to our newsletter.

Tim Healey
Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

More by Tim Healey

Comments
Join the conversation
2 of 138 comments
  • El scotto El scotto on Apr 28, 2023

    -darts eyes all about- Some employers offer free EV charging. Why do I think many of the anti-EV people on here aren't smart enough to get a job at those employers? Hint: they're tech companies. -more eye darting- Or the that the most virulent anti-EV posters are afraid that regularly driving an ICE will make people think they're old, poor, and not well educated? Just some thoughts.

  • David David on May 02, 2023

    I'd consider purchasing an electric vehicle but my present apartment building has no place to charge one.

  • The Oracle Well, we’re 3-4 years in with the Telluride and right around the time the long term durability issues start to really take hold. This is sad.
  • CoastieLenn No idea why, but nothing about a 4Runner excites me post-2004. To me, they're peak "try-hard", even above the Wrangler and Gladiator.
  • AZFelix A well earned anniversary.Can they also attend to the Mach-E?
  • Jalop1991 The intermediate shaft and right front driveshaft may not be fully engaged due to suspected improper assembly by the supplier. Over time, partial engagement can cause damage to the intermediate shaft splines. Damaged shaft splines may result in unintended vehicle movement while in Park if the parking brake is not engagedGee, my Chrysler van automatically engages the parking brake when we put it in Park. Do you mean to tell me that the idjits at Kia, and the idjit buyers, couldn't figure out wanting this in THEIR MOST EXPENSIVE VEHICLE????
  • Dukeisduke I've been waiting to see if they were going to do something special for the 60th Anniversary. I was four years old when the Mustang was introduced. I can remember that one of our neighbors bought a '65 coupe (they were all titled as '65 models, even the '64-1/2 cars), and it's the first one I can remember seeing. In the '90s I knew an older gentleman that owned a '64-1/2 model coupe with the 260 V8.
Next