EV purchase interest creeps up slowly

Around a quarter of new car shoppers in the U.S. are considering purchasing an electric vehicle, a share that has grown only slightly over the past year as motorists worry about charging infrastructure.

That's the finding of the J.D. Power 2023 U.S. Electric Vehicle Consideration Study released Thursday. The research firm found that 26 percent of shoppers say they are "very likely" to consider an EV, up from 24 percent a year ago. It gauges interest in fully electric vehicles rather than electrified autos such as plug-in and conventional hybrids.

The slight increase comes across a backdrop of factors influencing buyer interest in EVs. Lower gas prices, for example, reduce the economic benefit while higher interest rates increase the cost, J.D. Power said. On the flip side, the number of models and types of EVs is rising rapidly.

There are more than 50 available now, including large pickup trucks and SUVs, luxury sedans and smaller crossovers, compared with about 30 a year ago. Electric vehicles made up 7 percent of U.S. light-vehicle registrations through April, compared with 4.4 percent during the same period a year earlier, according to Experian.

"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. "The growth in public charging isn't keeping pace with the rising number of EVs on the road."

While shoppers like how wider EV choice increasingly fits every driving need, he said they still worry about charging their vehicles away from home.

Manufacturers are working to assure potential buyers. General Motors and Ford Motor Co. recently inked agreements allowing the automakers' EVs to charge at 12,000 Tesla Superchargers starting next spring.

Tesla Inc. has built its own nationwide charging network. It is the most extensive and most reliable, according to industry analysts. But it uses the North American Charging Standard port, which is different from the Combined Charging System port used by the Detroit automakers and others. Rival charging networks and charger manufacturers must update their systems with Tesla's NACS connector.

The move by two large U.S. automakers to the Tesla-style charging plug and cord could help ignite broader consumer interest in EVs, said Edward Sanchez, senior analyst for the global automotive practice at TechInsights.

"People see Tesla Supercharger stations all over the place. They know they can go to the local Starbucks and plug in," Sanchez said.

Stropp said 49 percent of the buyers responding to the J.D. Power study said they rejected considering an EV over worries about charging station availability. That has been the top rejection since the survey's inception in 2021.

In fact, across all J.D. Power EV studies, public charging infrastructure consistently scores low in satisfaction.

"People complain about the third-party chargers. They aren't in the best locations. They aren't always operational," Sanchez said.

Other study findings include:

• Some aspects of range anxiety are declining. J.D. Power found that the more miles motorists drive, the more likely they are to consider an EV. That's because they are finding electricity is less expensive than gas. Longer commutes are correlated with greater EV interest, while those with shorter daily drives say they are more likely to stay with a combustion vehicle.
• EV seat time more than doubles purchase interest. Only 12 percent of shoppers who have never driven or ridden in an EV would consider purchasing one. But 25 percent of those who have ridden say they're "very likely" to consider one. That grows with familiarity, with 80 percent of those who have previously owned or leased an EV saying they are either very or somewhat likely to get another.
• California remains the EV purchase leader. The state has the highest percentage of shoppers, with 73 percent who say they are either very or somewhat likely to consider an EV. Washington, another West Coast state, ranks second at 67 percent.

Indeed, electric and hybrid vehicles made up half of all new retail vehicle registrations in the San Francisco area in March and April this year, S&P Global Mobility found. It is the first major U.S. metropolitan area to achieve that level of electrified vehicle penetration.

Other California metro areas, including San Diego, Sacramento and Los Angeles, rival the San Francisco area for the top spot in EV market share, S&P Global Mobility said.

J.D. Power's U.S. Electric Vehicle Consideration Study asks a broad set of questions about EV purchase consideration to derive conclusions. This year's study measured responses from 8,136 consumers and was fielded from February through May.