EVs remain a niche choice in the US, according to survey

Consumers around the world told Deloitte what they want in their next vehicle.

See full article...

 

[TheManIsANobody]

I recently purchased an Ioniq 5. I was also looking at PHEVs during my search (Kia Sportage, RAV4, Prius) but they seem to basically not exist. I’m sure they do but they’re so hard to find. I couldn’t find a PHEV for sale within 250 miles of me, used or new. Hopefully that changes.

In the mean time I’m very happy with my Ioniq 5 and honestly just don’t want an ICE again. I drive infrequently enough that I can just charge in my garage on a standard outlet and never have an issue. My limited driving mileage is also why I was considering a PHEV. I just couldn’t find any.

 

[numerobis]

These figures are odd. In most countries, fewer people expect their next vehicle to be electric than the current market share in said country?

 

[Taunted Happy Fun Ball]

Shame they didn't survey people on reasons why they planned not to buy an EV. I can guess, of course, but data >> guesses.

Also interesting: of the countries asked, people in the US were the least likely to care about buying from a manufacturer in their own country.

 

[Bravesirrobinson]

Only one in five Americans said their car was a more important digital platform than their smartphone, compared to 56 percent of Chinese car buyers.

Can someone explain this stat a bit more? I don't understand how even 1 in 10,000 Americans would view their car as a more important "digital platform" than their phone. Was the actual stat something like "I prefer to use the in car digital system over my phone for things like navigation/music?" because I could see that being closer to 1 in 5.

Edit:

There’s also much less interest in using one’s car as a digital platform for other “integrated” services.

I guess that's probably it. "Do you prefer to use your phone or your car's software for driving related activities like nav/music?"

 

[evan_s]

We have 2 EVs now and I can't imagine us ever buying another ICE as a primary vehicle. Maybe if we needed truck for some reason we might want an ICE but our daily driver will definitely stay EV.

 

[KingKrayola]

Is it fair to think that outside of Tesla, fewer USAians have much direct experience of EVs? In the UK, it feels like the transition is accelerating as EVs become more common and affordable, so they are less of an unknown quantity?

Nothing quells range anxiety etc like having a mate say it's not been a problem in their direct experience.

 

[phred14]

My daughter and son-in-law are looking to replace a car. Their initial thought was an electric, or perhaps an old ICE sedan as a stop-gap. They dismissed hybrid as overly complex, worst-of-both-worlds. But as they ran through the Structured Decision Making process the hybrid emerged as their best choice. Between sunsetting subsidies and not managing the chaos of charging ports, the EV market has taken real damage in the US. The charging port situation seems to be clearing up, but the purchase price is still a big issue.

 

[Bob Dobilina]

I leased an Ioniq 5 2 weeks ago. I figured a two year lease lets me see if I want to stay this route or go hybrid. So far I see no reason to go back to ICE. I’ll have a L2 charger in my garage next week but to be honest, I’ve been doing fine with the standard wall charger.

I see a ton of EVs on the road in my area. I’m sure if you drill into the data you’ll find that the percentage of uptake in EVs is skewed along the same demographics that a lot of other things are skewed.

 

[ktmglen]

I tried. All I wanted was a small electric pickup. Rivian was too expensive and Ford & Chevy were too big. Hopefully some better options materialize over the next few years because I can't see my next vehicle being anything other than electric.

 

[markgo]

Is it fair to think that outside of Tesla, fewer USAians have much direct experience of EVs? In the UK, it feels like the transition is accelerating as EVs become more common and affordable, so they are less of an unknown quantity?

Nothing quells range anxiety etc like having a mate say it's not been a problem in their direct experience.

Not really. Hyundai and Rivian seem to have most of the buzz here in the EV forward Pacific NW.

Tesla is a broken brand, at odds with the very audience who would be most likely to buy their products.

 

[timber]

I also don't care for that SDV or whatever they call it, a car either is nice to live with or not.
It's like an excuse for "we traded everything for a tablet and fumbled the execution".
Another thing I don't care about is a future car that isn't an EV, already have one and not going back, define it with software, hardware or in between, the next will also be electric.

 

[numerobis]

Is it fair to think that outside of Tesla, fewer USAians have much direct experience of EVs? In the UK, it feels like the transition is accelerating as EVs become more common and affordable, so they are less of an unknown quantity?

Nothing quells range anxiety etc like having a mate say it's not been a problem in their direct experience.

Only Japan has lower EV market share than the US among rich countries.

 

[auldancranky]

I've had a BEV for 7 years now. I've had a couple of issues with misjudging range but that's it over the thousands of journeys I've done. Those inconveniences don't in anyway outweigh the convenience of fueling my car at home and at approx. one quarter of the price. It drives nicely and nothing ever goes wrong with the EV part of it (not quite the case with the standard parts). I'm just not interested in an ICE car now.
On the other hand, they are quite expensive which is why I've had the same car for 7 years. I suspect cost has a lot to do with the preferences of buyers around the world.

 

[Jeff S]

If my apartment had charging stations, I would get an EV. If I buy a house with offstreet parking (garage or at least driveway), I would install my own charger and get an EV. But right now, living in an apartment with no charging infrastructure, an EV is just not an option for me, realistically.

 

[SirOmega]

This is going to be a controversial thing, but we need a carbon tax. We're going to have to get to the point of raising the taxes on carbon-based energy to solve the problem of ACC and get people to change their behaviors. Make the price of gas go up to $5 or 6 in the US and watch everyone scream for EVs right now.

And as EVs owners, we're going to have to accept a VMT to offset the lack of fuel taxes we pay (but also get rid of any stupid car reg fees just for EVs).

 

[poltroon]

Anecdotally, I’ve found that the Ars Technica audience has very little interest in reading about this seismic shift, and you’re not alone. Only 41 percent of US car buyers think SDVs are useful, and one in three says they have no use for one. The concept is even less popular in the UK, Germany, and Japan, but it has far more acceptance in China, South Korea, and Southeast Asia.

Those attitudes correlate with willingness to pay extra for OTA updates. Only 7 percent of Chinese customers said they were unwilling to pay for OTA updates, and half said a car that can be updated would be worth a 6–10 percent price premium compared to a car that can’t. In the US, 39 percent said they would not pay more for a car with OTA functionality.

I think in the US we interpret such a thing as a way for a car manufacturer to take functionality away or extract subscription revenue from our essential utilitarian item rather than a way to improve the utility of what we purchased.

Given my experience with say, multiple laptop computers and phones that were still physically functional but had to be abandoned because they were no longer supported by software updates, I am oddly loath to have this happen to a $50,000 car that I rely on for essential life activities.

That plus the whole Silicon Valley ethos of "move fast and break things" - the OTA-for-car changes I hear about seem to not always be well tested. I sure don't love any old person being able to remotely change how my car works whenever they like without me even having to drive it there and physically connect a cable.

 

[TenacityOverAptitude]

These figures are odd. In most countries, fewer people expect their next vehicle to be electric than the current market share in said country?

I don’t understand her reasons, but my daughter-in-law dislikes enough about her Kona EV to replace it with a hybrid. She charges at home, with low electric rates, and can drive to visit us without stopping to recharge. They have a gasoline burner for long trips anyway.
The main drawback of our Niro EV is the fussy climate control and touchscreen buttons.

 

[barich]

When I read about SDVs, I think two things: subscriptions and bugs.

Those discrete, single-purpose ECUs just work. The "software dating back years" does so because there's nothing wrong with it. Meanwhile, I see things like this and wonder what you get that makes the hassle actually worth it. To me it looks like spending more money for a bigger headache.

And, of course, the ability to be like GM and remove Android Auto and CarPlay and then charge monthly to duplicate the things my phone can already do.

 

[lp0_on_fire]

Can't charge at home, I barely have enough juice to dry my own clothes.

Can't charge at work. This might change but it's a few years away.

Nearest public charger to home is in a recreation area and day-trippers squat on it for hours on end.

 

[KingKrayola]

I also don't care for that SDV or whatever they call it, a car either is nice to live with or not.
It's like an excuse for "we traded everything for a tablet and fumbled the execution".
Another thing I don't care about is a future car that isn't an EV, already have one and not going back, define it with software, hardware or in between, the next will also be electric.

Yeah I don't see that as a selling point. It's like saying the car uses a modular platform or CAN bus.

Saying 'you can set how the car drives to your own preference' or 'you can upgrade your second hand car if the mechanical parts were fitted for that feature but not 'paid for' by the first owner' is potentially a selling point, more for the first concept than the second.

 

[poochyena]

The top concern remains range and charging time. I don't think car buyers realize the range and charging times of modern EVs.
According to my totally scientific ars forum poll, only 20% of people drive more than 400miles/645km in a single day at least once per year. That means for 80% of people, you'd only ever have to stop for 1 single 30 minute charge on a road trip. On a 400 mile road trip, you're probably stopping at least once anyways.

Range and charging speed may be an issue for some, but certainly not the vast majority of people.
Also, "cost to replace battery" is just totally bunk. Batteries easily last over 100k miles with little degradation. At the point you'd need a new battery in an EV, you'd likely need thousands of repairs in a gasoline car.

 

[SaturnSky]

Something that went unmentioned in the "Why pick an EV?" section is maintenance. With over 100,000 miles driven over 7 years across 2 vehicles, I didn't have to do any brake jobs, spark plug or timing belt changes, oil changes, etc. And that's just preventative maintenance. By that mileage there's always the occasional PCV valve or oxygen sensor that's failed. Never mind the cost of this maintenance, but there's the added hassle of dropping your car off, finding a ride, getting a rental or other form of transportation for the duration of service.

Even hybrids and plug-in hybrids benefit from this although obviously not to the same extent as BEV's. There have been plenty of models over the past 15+ years to do a proper comparison to quantify this but nobody ever figures in the hassle of getting your car worked on.

 

[Jeff S]

"Lag behind"? "Haven't yet"? Too fatalistic. The US may never have adequate infrastructure for charging EVs, so they may never be more popular than combustion vehicles (t)here.

For people who can at least charge at home, I wish people would think about the fact that for many drivers, you CAN use the EV as your around-town day-to-day vehicle. With a range of approx 200mi for most EVs, most people will not drive around town more than 200mi in a day - driving to work, school, church, shopping, friends' houses, entertainment venues, usually adds up to at most 100mi in a very busy day with a lot of driving.

It is possible if you only travel out of town occasionally - a few times a year, to just get a deal on a rental gas vehicle for longer trips.

And there IS charging infrastructure along most major highways and in major cities. You can charge in most places in the US if taking a longer trip.

 

[MTSkibum]

We are shopping for a new vehicle for my wife, this vehicle needs to be able to drive across texas 2-3 times a year and also tow 5,000 pounds. This vehicle needs 3 rows of seats.

We also want AWD, but in a base model, no sunroof, no leather seats, no heated seats, no fancy interior.

A pure electric is out of question, but the problem is none of the companies make a plug in hybrid that meets our needs.

The only non-luxury manufacturer that offers a plug hybrid with 3rd row seats is Mazda CX-90, but they only offer with higher trim models that starts at 50k+ and it is not available with a towing package for 5,000 pounds, only 3500 pounds.


Ideally, a base model Honda Pilot Sport with PHEV added on would what we would want. However, neither Toyota or Honda offer their mid size SUV's with plug in.



Edit: We live 700 miles and 1100 miles away from our families, and with cost of flights for us and our kids and then needing to rent a car on the other end it ends up being significantly cheaper to drive. In addition, I have a boat that needs towed locally, hence the 5k towing limit.

I understand I am getting downvoted by people who want me to go pure electric. I get it. I wish I had options to electrify my driving options, and there is nothing out there in plug in hybrid that will work.

 

[1Zach1]

Americans also lag behind many of their international peers when it comes to that most important condition for buying an EV or plug-in hybrid: having somewhere to plug it in at night. Fifty-three percent of US respondents said they do not have a way to charge at home. By contrast, that number was 20 percent in Germany and just six percent in China. Only Japan—where plug-ins and EVs are even less popular than in the US—had a higher rate of no charger access at home (75 percent).

Is that what the survey said? Because looking at the report the question is

EV charger access among consumers who plan to charge their vehicle at home

Which is not the same thing as a lack of access to charging at home, it seems to indicate not having a pre-installed EVSE.

 

[khumak50]

It really comes down to convenience IMO. ICE cars are just more convenient for most people. There's a gas station on every corner and filling up the tank only takes a few minutes. Most areas in the US do not have convenient locations to charge other than in your garage at home (which a lot of people don't have).

I would only pick an EV if it was just as convenient if not moreso than an ICE car and the only way that's possible is if I can charge it at home or if pretty much every random location I might decide I want to visit has a place I can plug in and charge. Every grocery store, every bar, every rest stop, every camp site, etc. The US is not as population dense as Europe or China. There are areas of the country where public charging infrastructure is practically nonexistent.

I say this as someone who doesn't even own a car currently. I live in a very walkable area and simply walk almost everywhere. If it's too far to walk I either take the bus or grab an Uber. That is cheaper than car ownership by far. I will definitely end up buying a car soon anyway even though I don't need one but I have gone without one for several years. Whatever I buy will definitely be an ICE. For me to consider an EV I would have to sell my condo and move to a place that has it's own garage where I could install a home charger. At that point I would probably prefer an EV because charging at home is more convenient than refilling at a gas station. But for most people who do not live in a single family home or a duplex or something that has an attached garage, an EV is basically an automatic no.

 

[iollmann]

Plugins are all the rage here in my area of Europe,
but I still don't trust them completely.

I was originally going to pick up a Tesla but in the end picked up a Toyota hybrid, the thought of being stuck in the snow with a dead battery was just too much, knowing I have that ICE backup is just peace of mind.

What ICE owners fail to understand is that EVs don’t simply die like gas cars do when they have a “dead battery”. Instead the voltage has dropped far enough that it can’t sustain freeway speeds but often they have another 50 km of limp mode available at something like 50 km/h. So, in this situation, assuming you aren’t asking the dead EV to push a snow plow, you probably could make it to a place to charge. Besides, it is far more likely the ICE would have trouble starting in this situation with its own dead battery. AGM batteries are pretty miserable. Lithium runs circles around them and there is much reason to believe sodium and solid state batteries will be better still. The EV will start. There is no question.

It is a bit ironic that ICE owners don’t want EVs because they are afraid the EV will let them down frequently in the same way their ICEs do and be even slower to recover. They don’t do that. I have never once ran out of gas in my EV (nor battery for that matter). I don’t even think about it. There is something quite magical about refuelling at home for always having a fully charged car and never running out. The gas station is the problem, not the solution.

 

[the.mighty.oracle]

As per previous articles on ARS, micro transportation, which is predominantly electric, is on the rise. ... Even in the US. This is particularly true in urban areas. Total vehicle registration and new vehicle registration are down about 15% (1% per capita) over the last few years (2022-2025) compared with 2015-2020). I consider that the unmentioned room-elephant. If these users are switching (even at a modest fraction) to public transit, scooters, mopeds, electric bikes, walking, or some combination of such things, it is a bigger impact than them switching to personal car sized PEV. That matches what I see when I walk around the city where I work. There aren't more pedestrians, but there are a lot more people on standing electric scooters etc.

 

[timber]

It really comes down to convenience IMO. ICE cars are just more convenient for most people. There's a gas station on every corner and filling up the tank only takes a few minutes. Most areas in the US do not have convenient locations to charge other than in your garage at home (which a lot of people don't have).

I would only pick an EV if it was just as convenient if not moreso than an ICE car and the only way that's possible is if I can charge it at home or if pretty much every random location I might decide I want to visit has a place I can plug in and charge. Every grocery store, every bar, every rest stop, every camp site, etc. The US is not as population dense as Europe or China. There are areas of the country where public charging infrastructure is practically nonexistent.

I say this as someone who doesn't even own a car currently. I live in a very walkable area and simply walk almost everywhere. If it's too far to walk I either take the bus or grab an Uber. That is cheaper than car ownership by far. I will definitely end up buying a car soon anyway even though I don't need one but I have gone without one for several years. Whatever I buy will definitely be an ICE. For me to consider an EV I would have to sell my condo and move to a place that has it's own garage where I could install a home charger. At that point I would probably prefer an EV because charging at home is more convenient than refilling at a gas station.

The US also has really cheap gas.

 

[callumshell1]

Honestly the best thing about owning an EV, somewhere that has cold winters at least, is being able to defrost it from an app without ever having to leave the house. Having to spray and scrape my old ICE (ha) car every morning was such a pain in the ass and I do not take for granted the fact I never have to do it again.

 

[Axiomatic13]

As an owner of a small O&G company. I drive an EV.

 

[Lunakki]

Something that went unmentioned in the "Why pick an EV?" section is maintenance. With over 100,000 miles driven over 7 years across 2 vehicles, I didn't have to do any brake jobs,....

Electric vehicles don't need their brakes replaced??

 

[F12]

They need to go the way of Slate. Just because it's an electric car doesn't mean it needs to be full of tech. I think it's been researched already that most people don't even use half the stuff cars come with. Basic electric car with analogue controls for $30k or under. Watch how fast they sell.

 

[poochyena]

Electric vehicles don't need their brakes replaced??

regen braking doesn't use the regular car brakes, so the regular car brakes are rarely used in an EV.

 

[ChefJeff789]

I wanted to get one. I really considered it. But we rent, and are not allowed to install a charger. Made the whole idea DOA for me. There are chargers nearby and a couple at work, but if I dont have a 100% guarantee of being able to charge my commuter for work, I can't justify getting one.