More Americans Want Electric Cars Than Ever Before: Study

The annual J.D. Power U.S. Electric Vehicle Consideration Study has revealed that more Americans are open to considering an electric vehicle (EV) purchase than ever before. The percentage of shoppers to say that they are "overall likely" to buy an battery-electric vehicle (BEV) has increased two percentage points from 2022's survey to 61 percent.

BEVs run solely on battery power. They are charged by plugging the vehicle into a personal use wall charger or a commercial charging station.

Some of the most popular BEVs on the market today include the Tesla Model 3, Ford Mustang Mach-E, Ford F-150 Lightning, Hyundai Ioniq 5, Kia EV6 and Volkswagen ID.4.

A number of new electric vehicles are slated to hit the market in the coming year including a trio of Chevrolets: Equinox EV, Blazer EV and Silverado EV. The Kia EV9 three-row SUV is expected to arrive on U.S. shores later in 2023.

J.D Power cites a number of positive and negative market factors that are influencing buyer decisions: lower gas prices, inflation, rising interest rates, greater model availability and charging availability. Forty-nine percent of shoppers surveyed rejected the idea of purchasing an EV saying that their primary reason was lack of charging station availability.

"With all of these influences shaping today's EV market, the biggest friction point for consideration is the availability of public chargers," said Stewart Stropp, executive director of EV intelligence at J.D. Power said in a press release.

"The growth in public charging isn't keeping pace with the rising number of EVs on the road. While owners are impressed by what automakers are offering, they're also thinking about how, when and where they'll be able to charge their vehicles away from home. A resounding effort to build out and improve the public charging infrastructure will emphatically increase EV purchase consideration."

The Inflation Reduction Act has $7.5 billion earmarked to address access to EV charging. In its February announcement about the Act, the White House noted that there are "now more than three million EVs on the road and over 130,000 public chargers across the country."

"Most EV owners will say charging is one of the greatest benefits of ownership, because 85% of it is done at home," Stropp said. "But it's the exceptional use case—like a vacation road trip—that's holding shoppers back. Proactively taking ownership of the public charging experience is a huge opportunity for automakers to differentiate."

Ford and General Motors (GM) recently announced the adoption of Tesla's EV charging station connection in future models, with adapters for vehicles currently on the road to be made available for purchase to customers.

"GM and Ford's adoption of the NACS charging standard opens their cars up to Tesla's reliable and robust charging network. One major concern on buying an EV is public charging, and that change should help alleviate that pain point, drawing more interest for purchasing an EV," Chad Kirchner, vice president of content at EV Pulse told Newsweek.

While Tesla is the most considered brand, according to the J.D. Power survey, they're losing their dominance as more players enter the field.

"Led by the award-winning EV6 and Niro EV, as well as the upcoming three-row EV9 SUV, our EV portfolio is ideally suited for this new reality, and we will continue to diversify our offerings in the U.S. as we add EVs to our lineup through 2027," Steven Center, COO & EVP of Kia America told Newsweek.

"Thanks to diligent efforts by Kia to understand the voice of the consumer, Kia was early to electrification over a decade ago, and our class-leading hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and electric vehicles helped shift purchase consideration."

The study also found that the longer a person's commute, the more likely they were to consider an EV purchase. More than 35 percent of those that commute more than 45 minutes each way say they are "very likely" to consider an EV, a number 14 points higher than those who commute 15 minutes or less.

Having experience owning or riding in an EV helps increase purchase consideration with 80 percent of those who have owned or leased an EV in the past raising their hand as "overall likely" to consider.

California leads the way with the most EV considerers with 73.1 percent saying they are "overall likely" to look at an EV, the survey revealed. Half of San Francisco's vehicle registrations are electrified vehicles, which includes BEVs and hybrids.

"It makes sense more consumers are interested in EVs because there are more available," Kirchner said. "Additionally, relatively inexpensive models like the upcoming Volvo EX30 and Chevrolet Equinox EV will only increase interest. Plus, through consumer activations and ride and drive events more people have a chance to experience these vehicles first hand."

The survey considered the opinions of 8,136 consumers and was fielded from February through May 2023.