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EV Affordability Holding Back Consumers The Most, New Study Finds

EV affordability tops the list of reasons consumers are holding back on purchasing a new electric vehicle, per a recent survey from S&P Global Mobility. Charging network concerns are another top concern, while range anxiety has tumbled as a reason not to buy. Meanwhile, General Motors is aiming for zero tailpipe emissions from its light duty fleet by 2035, with plans to “put everyone in an EV.”

The new S&P Global Mobility survey results are based on 7,449 global respondents from the U.S., U.K., Germany, Brazil, India, Thailand, Japan, and mainland China. The survey was conducted May 23rd, while the data was compiled on July 28th.

According to the survey results, nearly half of respondents said that EV prices were too high, despite an understanding that electric vehicles typically carry a premium over equivalent ICE-powered vehicles. Fewer than half of respondents believed that EV technology was ready for the mass market, with 42 percent of respondents considering an electric vehicle as their next vehicle purchase, and 62 percent saying they would prefer to wait until the technology improves before buying a new vehicle.

Electric vehicle buyer willingness has fallen in the last two years, with 86 percent of global respondents reporting openness to buying an electric vehicle in 2021, likely spurred on by an influx of new, more-affordable models, as well as a pro-EV push in the U.S. from the Biden administration and legislation moving to ban internal combustion-powered vehicles in the future. However, that willingness dropped to 67 percent in May of 2023.

Vehicle charging is also a top concern, and is cited as the second top reason against electric vehicle purchase. Roughly 46 percent of respondents reported concern over the time required for charging, while 44 percent reported concern regarding the availability of charging stations.

Interestingly, range anxiety was less of a concern, with the majority of respondents indicating acceptance of a minimum electric vehicle range below 300 miles. Just 29 percent reported a preference of more than 300 miles per charge.

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Jonathan is an automotive journalist based out of Southern California. He loves anything and everything on four wheels.

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Comments

  1. Yup..we are just not there yet.

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    1. Inconvenience and range anxiety are big factors too.

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    2. And when We do get there there will be a whole new generation of ICE to compete with. GM has a 6th gen small block coming, Ford is working with Mahle for a super high compression engine, Cummins/Achates now has a diesel for military use that’s so efficient it requires no cooling or radiator.

      The problem with EV’s is that battery density will never equate fuel. If we poored the same effort into efficient ICE engines as we did EV’s we would have doubled the efficiency and that is something that would transmit to even the poorer countries for those who are truly worried about the environment. Most poorer countries aren’t even considering EV’s

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  2. All the manufacturers raised the prices of ICE vehicles to make ev’s look less ridiculous, but most of us are unwilling to pay the ev premium, and mad at how expensive ICE are too.

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  3. Baloney. Range and availability of charging are, combined, as important as affordability. Until the economy crashes, which some of us hope happens tomorrow.

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    1. You really want the economy to crash, bringing lots of people into poverty just because you do not like the EV’s ?
      Sounds very anti american. Is this an anti american organization as you mention “some of us”? And all this on Thanksgiving. Something wrong with the turkey?

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      1. Not so much wanting the economy to crash, as wanting to get the inevitable debt collapse over with. The longer things run on vapor the worse that day will be.

        $30 knicknacks are priced in payments, and grocery stores are doing layaway. And of course 8-plus year auto loans because “That’s what I can afford”. (No, you can’t.) We’re already well into poverty.

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  4. Tesla keeps lowering the price of their vehicles and the sales keep climbing around the World.
    This isn’t Rocket Science.

    The Demand is there but the vehicles are not.
    I will say this…..if Legacy cannot figure out how to scale BEV’s prior to Tesla releasing their 25K vehicle (and unfortunately when Chinese Automakers enter our Market with Cheap EV’s) some pretty big Legacy Automakers might go down or become a shell of themselves.

    I fear Legacy doesn’t have the Urgency needed to compete in this new World of the Automotive Sector.
    I am getting extremely nervous.

    I don’t want Tesla to basically become a Monopoly

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  5. Can I ever charge my Lyriq to 100% ,to get the 315 miles quoted

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    1. GM never told us volt owners to charge to 80% but it seems they are using this to force you to preserve the battery in hopes of NO failures they gotta pay for before the warranty is up I bet. Especially if charging simply on 240v as typical I would expect is fine as I have done for 10 years now on my 2014 which had usable 10.7kWh now 10.1 after some 100+k EV miles on its battery.

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  6. This should be common knowledge. Sadly, too many people (executives) making decisions are completely oblivious to how much struggling there is in this market keeping up with daily life. Of course there’s a ton of interest, especially when the borderline fraudulent announcements of low price EVs get made only to have the prices jacked up tens of thousands of dollars. And who could possibly imagine the interest waning after a pile of subscriptions are required to make the hardware you are purchasing actually operate, then features to get around the subscriptions like CarPlay get axed. The Blazer EV I was saving up for isn’t going to be in my driveway, and my backup of an Equinox EV got axed right along with CarPlay (not to mention the poor efficiency). GM continues to blame everyone else for their own poor, revenue centric decisions, and lack of consideration for the people they expect to fork out tons of cash for these things.

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    1. Yep, just like the Hummer & H3 debacle. GM had a chance to move the company in a much more responsible direction and chose to just make the biggest turds possible that would return the most profit per vehicle. The problem is the market for those ridiculous money pits is tiny compared to the regular masses that need reliable, efficient, safe transportation. I remember when I worked at the RenCen and they were trying to give me an H3 to drive (to boost the sales numbers because they were selling so bad) and all I said was, “Are you going to pay for the gas too?”

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  7. Just read, that sales in the USA for EVs have gone up , this year . This comes from a car tester, for a newspaper , not from an oil company clown , trying to dissuade people from saving money, in the long run. Where I live they will be adding 15000 more charging stations in the coming months. On top of all we have.

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  8. They suck in the cold winter.
    btw, sales are tanking in Europe .

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    1. Good thing we’re headed towards only having warm winters

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    2. Sorry Phil: Fact, EV’s lose about 20% range in cold where as the ICE also loses but slightly less. The number I’ve read just tonight said 15 to 20% loss in the same temps.

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      1. And no one pays attention to the minutes they often warm the ice up with or the less mileage they get when its cold thinking its just one car over another…LOL. The only thing they are stuck on is I can fill my tank in 5 minutes.

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        1. I sure do, that was one of the huge drivers getting an EV. So, so nice not having the exhaust cloud in the morning while the car warms up enough to see through the window (and the extra cost burning all that gas), now it just sits practically silent in the driveway warming up.

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  9. If GM and Ford brought out 3 new EV’s each tomorrow and all 6 were priced between 18 grand and 29 grand, they wouldn’t be able to keep them in stock. Even if these were quite basic models with limited features, they would certainly sell.

    Rivian is still getting caught up with all the people who ordered or wanted one from the start, but once that group is filled, they will start to have a tough time. Lucid motors is having a difficult time. Fisker will probably not make it due to price and being so ugly. Hummer’s are not moving and for good reason. Yet the Bolt twins are selling so well. The lower priced Tesla’s are selling well. We truly do have an affordability issue and we really need way more affordable sedans and smaller CUV’s with EV now.

    Range is made into more of an issue by the press and those who dislike EV’s. Truth be told, few need anything with more than 200 miles and even that is not really needed. Just yesterday I drove my Bolt EV 93 miles round trip for Thanksgiving with family. I started with 324 miles and ended with 215 miles. This was driving between 60 and 70 MPH with the A/C on low going and just vent coming home. Basically I used exactly 1/4 of my charge (tank) on that 93 miles.

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  10. First, a disclaimer. I’m a pickup guy. I don’t now, nor will I ever, own an EV. I am sick to death of the government doing all they can to make ICE vehicles into the devil themselves. I am tired of being told that eventually, I will be driving an EV or nothing at all. That’s not the American way I grew up with. I want my freedom of choice, please. I don’t care what kind of EV you own you will not be able to match my truck for range or towing capacity. My 1500 crew cab diesel Gets over 30 mpg on the highway and averages 26 in town. I can drive it 700+ miles before refilling and I can fill it up in less than 10 minutes. Even with a 7000 pound traile in tow, I can get almost 18 mpg and about 400 miles between fillips. If you want an EV, by all means get one. But please stop telling me they are cleaner and better than my ICE vehicle.

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    1. Hyrolr: I think you are taking this a little far in what you are being told. The type of vehicle you are driving will be around for many years yet no matter what you seem to think. Let’s just hope that the manufacturers continue to improve those ICE vehicles and they become cleaner and cleaner.

      But I do wish to address one of the things you said that is totally false. The only EV that is about equal to your truck would be the Hummer’s with the biggest battery packs in terms of the overall carbon footprint. You are sadly misinformed if you actually think that your truck with a diesel is cleaner or equal to the average EV. I’d go into detail on this, but for some reason I don’t think you are open to the facts here. So I’ll just say that the overall carbon footprint on the average EV is much lower than ICE no matter if gas or diesel. And the most interesting fact of all? As these EV’s get older they will actually do less harm environmentally whereas all ICE get worse as they get older. Even if well maintained. It’s about clean energy and renewable energy.

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      1. Dan, I won’t argue that as far as “on the road” experience, EV’s might be cleaner overall than my diesel. However, I don’t think there is an EV available that can match my range and/or towing capacity. I am open to debate on any of this, I’m just concerned that the same thing could happen to me that happened to my son. A perfectly good car was totaled because the insurance company didn’t understand. BTW, I WOULD own a hybrid, just not a full electric. As I said earlier, I am tired of the government and all the Green Nee Deal folks telling me what I will and won’t drive.

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        1. You are certainly correct in what you said about range, towing and so forth. As you can see, I didn’t bring that up because you are correct. What I brought up was about the clean part. This goes well beyond just what comes out the tailpipes or lack of them. You also need to take into account the oil changes of which your truck probably uses 10 quarts or more of premium oil. Then there’s the filters. Trans flushes and so on. An EV doesn’t have any of those. Most EV’s do have some form of antifreeze, but it doesn’t need to be changed like that in an ICE vehicle. Now lets talk about brakes.

          In an EV, you have regen braking which (if driven as designed) will reduce the need for brake work for well over 100K for an average driver. Since you are using less brakes, the EV generates less brake dust which is a pollutant and harmful to breathe in. Then you have less waste parts (pads, rotors, etc) going into the landfill or needing to be recycled and less brake fluid waste. So the differences are huge and go well beyond what most people seem to talk about.

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          1. I will concede that my truck uses oil for lubrication on many fronts that your EV does not. However, I’m sure you know that most oil these days is recycled, just like the water at the local car wash. I don’t want to get into a big argument here about who’s cleaner, and I won’t go all political regarding how dirty and dangerous the battery making process is. My point is simply that cleaner or not, an EV simply is not for me. Where I drive there are limited options for charging (at least for now). That will change, I’m sure, but until the EV manufacturers develop a truck that can haul 2500 pounds and tow 10,000 for more than the current range, I will not be even looking that direction. It appears that you are completely bought in to the EV’s and that’s okay. They just don’t work for me. And, as a classic car rebuilder, the sound is just not the same as a big block 60’s muscle car. Just sayin”…

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            1. I’d like to see your source for thinking “most oil these days is recycled, just like the water at the local car wash.” I find it very difficult to believe that waste oil can be converted into anything that would remotely protect an engine. I’d also like to see an article or two about what you consider “recycled oil”, because the only oil recyclers I have had the pleasure of doing business with just ship it someplace where it is pumped back into the ground — out of sight, out of mind.

              I would say, most cars these days require synthetic oil, and a majority of consumers buy synthetic oil even if it is not mandated by the manufacturer. While synthetic oil is a shade greener than the dino-juice pumped out of the ground and filtered/processed into the various products that end up being fuel, lubrication, and asphalt, it is still derived from various fossil fuel chemicals.

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  11. I truly think my biggest fear of EV’s is getting in to a crash with one. I would rather not feel more anxious to be in a car that I know any type of crash could turn my car and myself into a crematorium.

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    1. My son all day perfectly good 2016 Ford fusion hybrid. He was in a wreck that would’ve cost about $3000 to fix the car. Some guy ran a stop sign and broadsided him just behind the driver side rear door. The insurance company decided to total the car because they could not decide whether or not the battery had been damaged and the battery replacement would cost more than what the car was currently worth. It was a real bummer because he liked the car. It just goes to show that Evies are not quite ready for prime time yet.

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    2. GM hasn’t been forthright, but there are some great crash test videos on YouTube of the bZ4X/Solterra that show how well they perform in various crash scenarios and most have detailed views of the damage surrounding the battery pack showing practically no deformation of the pack or mounting points. Everything looks way less intrusive than a big hunk of engine in front of you pushing into the cabin during frontal impacts (there are many impressive offset and side impact videos as well).

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  12. 98% of Researchers agree with whomever is funding their research….

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