Federal Government Struggles to Get Americans to Buy EVs: Here’s How Many Are Seriously Considering It

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks with SemaConnect CEO Mahi Reddy at the Prince George's County Brandywine Maintenance Facility during a visit to announce the Biden-Harris Administration’s Electric Vehicle Charging Action Plan, in Brandywine, Maryland, U.S., December 13, 2021. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Amid recent a federal push to drive more Americans into purchasing electric vehicles, a new poll suggests that most Americans aren’t sold on the cars.

As of late March 2023, only about 4 percent of all Americans own an electric vehicle, according to a survey published by Gallup last week. Another 12 percent told the pollster that they are “seriously considering” purchasing an EV.

About 43 percent of U.S. adults indicated in the poll that they “might consider” purchasing one in the future. But 41 percent said that they will not.

There are also widespread claims that electric vehicles, which use a large and heavy lithium-ion battery, can address “climate change.” However, the poll found that about 61 percent believe electric vehicles do not do much to address it.

“U.S. adults’ party identification is the greatest differentiator in both their openness to owning EVs and their perceptions of the environmental impact that the use of such vehicles would have,” the pollster also found. About 6 percent of Democrats own an electric vehicle, while 1 percent of Republicans own one.

Some 22 percent of Democrats and 12 percent of independents say they are planning on purchasing an EV, while only 1 percent of Republicans say they are, the poll found. A majority of Democrats, or 54 percent, said they are considering it in the future, while 71 percent of Republicans said they won’t consider owning one.

“While ownership of electric vehicles is on the rise in the U.S., the percentage of Americans who say they own one remains limited at 4 percent,” it said. “Though they are often promoted as a key way to reduce carbon dioxide emissions ... the public remains largely unconvinced that the use of EVs accomplishes this aim.”

The findings come as the Biden administration unveiled a plan on April 12 that it wants to impose tougher emissions standards to force automakers into building more EVs by the year 2032. The Environmental Protection Administration, or EPA, has said that at least 60 percent of new passenger vehicles sold across the United States would be electric by 2030 and 67 percent by 2032.

A number of Democrat-controlled states, including California, have issued rules that would phase out the sale of new gas-powered vehicles by 2035, replacing them with electric vehicles or plug-in hybrids.

However, electric vehicles appear to be entirely cost-prohibitive for many American drivers. Cox Automotive, the parent of Kelley Blue Book, has said that “the average transaction price for electric cars was $65,291 in September 2022. By comparison, gas-powered vehicles cost less, with an average transaction price of about $48,100 in the same timeframe.”

Earlier this month, Cox Automotive said that prices for used EVs rose 32 percent in the first three months of 2023, according to the Reuters news service. The group said that the average price was around $43,400, down 4 percent from the same quarter last year.

The group stated used EV prices were probably cut due to price reductions by Elon Musk’s Tesla, the leading manufacturer of EVs, for new vehicles. “As the market leader pushes down prices for new EVs, used-vehicle prices follow suit,” Cox said, the agency reported.

Meanwhile, charging the vehicles is an issue for many. A total of 30 percent of all public charging infrastructure in the country is located entirely within California, said the Alliance for Automotive Innovation (pdf). Out of the over 3,100 counties across the United States, 39 percent had no electric chargers while 63 percent had just five or fewer.

But “given these changes” pushed by the federal government in recent days, “it is unclear to what extent Americans will be able to choose between electric and gas-powered vehicles in the next decade and beyond.”

“With four in 10 U.S. adults unwilling to even consider switching from a gas to an electric vehicle, the plans of Biden, California and auto manufacturers could be challenging to achieve,” it said.