Obstacles Still Blocking EV Adoption Road

A survey of more than 3,000 people in the market to buy a car found that the reasons for passing over electric models haven’t changed but have eased over the past year, though resistance to EVs has become more established, especially for lower-income consumers.

The survey, by CarGurus company Autolist found that the top three reasons for eschewing EVs remained price, distance between charges, and concerns about where to charge, though the percentage of respondents who cited each of those fell.

Autolist noted, though, that the gap between the top three reasons for EV shyness and the rest of cited reasons narrowed.

"More shoppers view EVs as real-world possibilities as the market matures and EVs become more capable," said Autolist founder and CEO Corey Lydstone. "However, these gains are largely limited to higher-income households. Making EVs affordable for all consumers will be essential to their widespread adoption."

Forty-six percent of survey respondents with annual incomes less than $30,000 cited upfront EV cost as a top obstacle to acquiring one, and a third of those in that income segment cited lack of home-charging capability. That compares to survey averages of 42% and 27%, respectively.

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