Huge Percentage Of EV Owners Want To Go Back To Normal Cars, Study Finds

Nearly half of American electric vehicle (EV) owners want to buy an internal combustion engine model the next time they buy a car, according to a new study from McKinsey and Company, a leading consulting firm.

Approximately 46% of Americans who own an EV want to go back to a standard vehicle for their next purchase, citing issues like inadequate charging infrastructure and affordability, according to McKinsey’s study, which was obtained and reviewed by the Daily Caller News Foundation. The study’s findings further suggest that the Biden administration’s EV push is struggling to land with American consumers, after 46% of respondents indicated that they are unlikely or very unlikely to purchase an EV in a June poll conducted by The Associated Press and the University of Chicago’s Energy Policy Institute.

Moreover, 58% of Americans are very likely to keep their current cars for longer, and 44% are likely to postpone a possible switch to EVs, McKinsey’s study found. Consumers’ concerns about EV charging infrastructure are notable given the slow rollout of the Biden administration’s $7.5 billion public EV charger program, which has so far led to the construction of only a handful of chargers in nearly three years.

The Biden administration has a stated goal of having EVs make up 50% of all new car sales by 2030, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized stringent regulations in March that will force manufacturers to ensure that up to 56% of their light-duty vehicles are EVs by 2032. The EPA has also finalized strict emissions standards for medium- and light-duty vehicles, while the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has also locked in fuel economy standards that will further push manufacturers to produce more EVs.

The administration is also spending billions of dollars to subsidize the production and purchase of EVs, but manufacturers are still losing considerable amounts of cash on their EV product lines. EVs remained below a 10% share of all auto sales in the U.S. in 2023, according to Cox Automotive.

The White House did not respond immediately to a request for comment.