Despite a drop in U.S. electric-vehicle sales following a pullback of federal incentives, more Americans are open to going electric amid this year’s spike in gas prices.
JD Power’s annual survey of new-vehicle shoppers found an uptick in those saying they’d very likely consider buying an electric model, a one percentage-point increase to a significant 25% of respondents. In addition, those very unlikely to go electric fell two percentage points to 20%.
In addition to pain at the gas pump, obstacles to EV adoption are gradually eroding, though EV prices make for a thorny snag, according to survey results.
Purchase price was the second most-cited reason consumers gave for resisting adoption after public charger availability, JD Power reported. The federal government, led by the Trump administration, ended an EV tax credit in October, bumping up EV transaction prices, which had already been higher than comparable gas-engine models.
Spotty charging infrastructure, though it’s still the top reason for opting out of EVs, is less of an issue for prospective EV buyers than it was last year, falling six percentage points to 46%, JD Power found. Charging times also improved in respondents minds, that deterrent falling two percentage points to 44%.
Consumers strongly resisting EV adoption have high thresholds for changing their minds, the report says. More than half aren’t willing to pay more for electric models, nearly three-quarters would want to see 500 miles of range between charges, and 43% said they’d expect comparable charger availability to gas pumps.
JD Power said public EV chargers are more plentiful than non-EV owners may think.
“Across much of the country, fast chargers are often available within about 50 miles, but for those not driving an EV, they can be easy to overlook. This points to a gap in visibility and awareness rather than infrastructure,” said Brent Gruber, JD Power’s executive director of OEM and EV solutions.
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