The number of consumers interested in purchasing their own electric vehicle this year is on the decline.
J.D. Power released its most recent study of EV consideration Thursday, reporting the first time interest dropped since the study’s inception in 2021. According to its survey of over 8,000 respondents, 24% reported they were “very likely” considering purchasing an EV, which was down 2% from last year.
As far as those respondents who were least likely considering the purchase, over half cited charging station availability as their No. 1 concern. This has remained the top concern year over year, only increasing in majority opinion each year.
Subsequently, less than a quarter of respondents who already have a daily commute of 30-60 minutes say they are “very likely” to consider an EV. This was an increase of 13 percentage points from 2023. Previously, those with longer commutes were more likely to consider an EV, but the trend has since reversed.
This comes as an effort in Congress is threatening President Joe Biden’s EV tax credit. A bipartisan group of representatives has a resolution in place to offer the credit to only American-made electric vehicles, while up until this point it has applied to all new and used vehicles regardless of make. Biden has since raised tariffs against Chinese EV models as a response.
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Across the U.S., consumers bought 352,390 plug-in vehicles during the first quarter. GM accounted for 20,000 of those car sales. Meanwhile, Ford accounted for 10,000 of those car sales.
Toyota seems to dominate the market after having sold 50% of EVs purchased in March. Some 36.6% of total sales for its first quarter were made up of EV models, which was a 74% increase.
