A new consumer survey released Wednesday by Plug In America, the electric vehicle (EV) advocacy nonprofit, in collaboration with EPRI’s EVs2Scale2030 initiative found that almost 90 percent of EV driver respondents are likely to purchase an EV for their next vehicle.
At the same time, most consumers’ concerns about EVs decrease across the board once they lease or own an EV, according to the findings from the 2024 EV Driver Annual Survey Report about EV driver satisfaction with their vehicles.
“It’s great to have data show what we’ve heard from EV owners for years,” said Joel Levin, executive director for Plug In America. “What seem like scary issues for some people considering an EV become non-issues after going electric.”
Regarding consumer concerns, the organizations found that the percentage of respondents who were worried about nearly every factor — such as battery range, public charging reliability, and price — decreased after experience driving an EV.
The only concerns that increased were public charging reliability and weather impact. For instance, people concerned about public charging availability decreased after EV experience, but only slightly, according to the survey, which was fielded from January through March.
Plug In America and EPRI also found that EV drivers love the electric experience, with 89 percent of owners reporting they are “likely” or “very likely” to purchase an EV as their next automobile.
This has been a consistent result since the inception of the survey in 2021, according to the organizations, which said that certain groups of respondents — like EV drivers ages 65 and over, and Tesla drivers — had more than 90 percent of people report their next vehicle would likely be an EV.
When asked to rate how satisfied they are with their primary EV overall, the Rivian R1T and R1S took the top two spots, with the Tesla Model S coming in third, according to the survey.
Plug In America and EPRI also asked EV drivers to share their satisfaction with their primary EV in other categories, such as range, charging, navigation system, and ease of charging, among others.
Additionally, the survey found that when it comes to the buying and leasing experiences, consumers are generally able to find the information they need, although there is room for improvement when it comes to how to apply for incentives.
And while dealership knowledge of EVs stands to grow, consumers feel that they are not often influenced by a dealer’s recommendations and usually know what they want before going into a dealership, the survey said.
“We found that consumer satisfaction with each step of the buying or leasing process remains generally high, although consumers who bought directly from a vehicle manufacturer — such as with Tesla, Rivian, and Lucid — reported higher satisfaction,” states the survey.
The 2024 EV Driver Survey includes responses from over 4,200 respondents, with more than 3,300 EV drivers. Of the almost 700 non-EV drivers, 77 percent of those considering buying or leasing a car in the next 12 months are considering a battery EV or plug-in hybrid EV.
Financial supporters of the annual survey included EPRI, Xcel Energy, and the Alliance for Transportation Electrification.