New survey reveals buyers have misconceptions about EVs
Tackling some of the common misconceptions around EVs with buyers today
There are a bevy of new electric vehicles on the way in the near future. Brands like Toyota, Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes Benz all plan on massively expanding their EV lineups in the near future. But building EVs is only half the battle for these manufacturers, the other half is, of course, selling them.
There are a number of hurdles that automakers might face when trying to sell these cars. To see what they are, Autolist surveyed 1,567 people who are currently in the market for a new car to see what their reservations about purchasing an EV might boil down to. The takeaways were pretty interesting.
Survey Takeaways
Autolist said that their survey found that the three biggest reasons people don’t buy an EV are their overall range, their price relative to a similar gas-powered vehicle and a lack of charging infrastructure in their area.
"Yes, there are more EVs available today than ever before, but that hasn't done much to change consumers' perceptions of them," said Chase Disher, an analyst at Autolist. "The misconceptions that electrics faced at the beginning of this decade are still a major impediment to their success right now."
The survey found that, if customers had $70,000 to spend on an EV they would want more than 500 miles of range for that kind of money. The problem is most EVs stop short of 300 miles, and the few that surpass that mark only do so by a slim margin.
There was some good news for the future of EVs, however. More than half of respondents said if they bought an EV they would use it as their everyday car.
"That so many people would use an EV as their household's main vehicle rather than just an errand-runner or gadabout is a good sign for the future of EVs," Disher said. "It shows that people are taking the idea of an electric vehicle seriously even if they don't own one yet."
Photo: Graph showing reasons buyers do not purchase EVs
By Nicholas Yekikian
Borrow is an electric vehicle subscription company with one goal: to make driving an EV as simple and accessible as possible. It’s the only vehicle subscription service of its kind and is bringing the future of car ownership to its customers today.