Is The Electric Dream Over, or Just On Hold, For US Drivers?

This survey is interesting as it highlights how the PR campaigns funded by governments, globalist organisations, activist charities etc aren’t breaking through the reality of EV ownership or leasing. It’s an expensive transport option, range is limited, depreciation is horrendous and charging on the road is slow and unreliable in many cases. If you can get a slot of course. According to this study, most U.S. drivers are not considering buying an electric vehicle anytime soon, citing concerns about replacing expensive batteries and potentially higher car insurance rates.

In a spring 2023 survey of 2,300 people nationwide, CarInsurance.com asked drivers whether they were seriously considering buying an EV. They were given four choices: “I’ve thought about it, but I’m not sure,” “Yes, in the next five years,” “Yes, eventually” and a flat-out “No.”

The “no” vote was strongest, with 53% of drivers saying they didn’t see it as a viable option.

“I’ve thought about it, but I’m not sure” received the second highest response, with 26% of drivers falling in this category. “Yes, in the next five years” came next with 12% of the vote and “Yes, eventually”  was chosen by 9%.

EVs make up less than 1% of the 250 million vehicles sold in the U.S., according to J.D. Power.

But sales are increasing. Kelley Blue Book, in April 2023, estimated that U.S. EV sales in the first quarter of this year increased by 45% year-over-year – which it said was a record quarter – and expected U.S. sales to top 1 million this year. Still, the majority of drivers are hesitant.

“EV sales gain more traction each year, but we know that consumers still have a lot of questions about them, such as battery life and ease of charging,” says AAA’s Megan McKernan, manager of the association’s Automotive Research Center.

In the 2023 AAA Car Guide, AAA gave three electric vehicles its top honors. It named the 2022 BMW iX xDrive 50 all-electric vehicle its No. 1 car for the year. Two other EVs, the R1T Adventure pickup truck and the R1S Launch Edition SUV, both made by Rivian, placed in the top 5.

The AAA said 2022 was notable for soaring gas prices, with the national average for a gallon of gas hitting a record $5.01 in June. That led to consumers purchasing more than 760,000 EVs in 2022, a 65% increase from 2021.

The survey also noted that due to things like battery pack safety, parts prices and more, the insurance costs associated with pure electric cars are usually higher. This isn’t likely to change if more people switch to EVs, in fact the amount of land needed to store damaged battery cars, and their packs, safely will increase exponentially. So the net result will be more land filled with warehouses stacked with battery packs, plus diesel back-up generators to charge them when the wind doesn’t blow – is that really a greener future?

You can read the full report from Carinsurance.com here.