Drivers skeptical of electric vehicle purchases despite Biden push: Gallup poll
Breanne Deppisch
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Many United States drivers are not ready to swap out their gas-powered cars for an electric vehicle just yet, according to a new Gallup survey — despite the billions of dollars the Biden administration has poured into tax credit programs and charging infrastructure to help accelerate the rate of EV adoption.
Just 4% of U.S. drivers currently own an EV, according to the Gallup poll, while another 12% said they are “seriously considering” purchasing one.
LACK OF CHARGERS, RANGE ANXIETY, AND RELIABILITY FEARS MAKE DRIVERS WARY OF EVS
Rates of EV ownership recorded in the survey were slightly higher among Democrats, at 6%, and among independent voters, at 4%. Meanwhile, just 1% of Republicans said they currently own an EV. In fact, party identification proved to be the biggest differentiating factor in respondents’ potential openness and overall perception of EVs.
Among Democrats, a 54% majority said they might consider purchasing an EV in the future, while less than half that amount of Republican voters, or 26%, said the same.
Other major demographic predictors in the survey were age, income, and location. Drivers between the ages of 35-54 were the most likely to be seriously considering purchasing an EV, at 18%, the poll found, compared to just 7% of older respondents and 11% of voters between the ages of 18-34. The 18-34 age group by far outpaced other age cohorts when asked whether they might consider purchasing an EV in the future, however, with a strong 58% saying they would, compared to 40% of voters 35-58 and 36% of respondents ages 55 and older.
Unsurprisingly, drivers living in the West were most likely to currently own an EV, at 6%, compared to the East and Midwest, at 3% each.
Just 2% of drivers in the South said they currently owned an EV, though more than 40% of respondents in every region said would be open to purchasing an EV in the future.
Many would-be EV buyers remain hesitant to make the switch due to logistical hurdles — citing concerns over reliability, range anxieties, and a lack of access to public charging infrastructure.
For drivers who live in rural areas or rely on off-street parking, the lack of infrastructure is especially daunting.
A total of 30% of all public charging infrastructure in the U.S. is located in California, according to the Alliance for Automotive Innovation. In fact, out of more than 3,100 counties in the U.S., 63% of counties had five or fewer public chargers, while 39% had none.
Reporting an outage at a public charging station can also be difficult — as can accessing up-to-date information about where to find reliable chargers.
Beyond that, however, the Gallup poll also revealed a surprising level of skepticism toward EVs and drivers’ beliefs about their role in helping fight climate change.
While four in 10 adults (12%) said using EVs helps climate change “a great deal,” and 27% said it helps a “fair amount,” 35% of respondents said they believe EVs help “only a little.” And 26% of respondents said they do not believe EVs help fight climate change at all.
The U.S. transportation sector accounts for 27% of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions, meaning that electrifying the fleet is key if the U.S. hopes to deliver on its goals of fighting climate change and meeting its target set under the Paris Agreement.
It will also require the rapid addition of renewable energy sources to the U.S. power grid, including solar and wind power, as well as increased transmission and battery storage to keep those supplies online without increasing emissions.
The poll comes as the Biden administration also proposed strict new auto emissions rules on Wednesday aimed at further accelerating the U.S. EV transition, with the goal of having EVs account for up to 67% of all new vehicles sold by 2032.
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The proposed standards, which Biden ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to craft in an August 2021 executive order under the Clean Air Act, will apply to passenger vehicles beginning in model year 2027 and extending through model year 2032.
While the EPA’s proposed rule would not mandate or require automakers to sell a certain number of EVs, it would restrict the total level of emissions generated by each company’s total fleet of sold cars, which is essentially another way of restricting internal combustion engine-powered vehicle sales.