Nearly half of American electric car owners expressed regret about their purchase and a desire to return to an internal combustion engine vehicle, according to a new survey.
The McKinsey Mobility Consumer Pulse survey for 2024 found 46 percent of American electric vehicle owners were “very” likely to opt for a traditional gas-powered car for their next purchase.
Philipp Kampshoff, the head of McKinsey’s Center for Future Mobility, was surprised by how many Americans were eager to move back to gas-powered vehicles.
“I didn’t expect that,” Kampshoff told Automotive News. “I thought, ‘Once an EV buyer, always an EV buyer.’”
[RELATED: If You Don’t Want Buyer’s Remorse, Don’t Get An Electric Vehicle]
The McKinsey survey took opinions from nearly 37,000 consumers around the world, with only Australia reporting a higher percentage of electric car owners (49 percent) who said they are likely to choose a gas-powered car in the future. Pollsters also interviewed consumers in Brazil, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Norway. The average share of those who said they were likely to abandon the electric car craze across all nations included in the survey was 29 percent.
High costs and low familiarity with electric vehicles along with skepticism of the technology were the highest barriers to embracing the electrical alternatives. Those most likely to buy electric cars were typically younger, wealthy, and urban. Insufficient charging infrastructure and total ownership costs were the most cited reasons for returning to gas-powered cars.
“Make no mistake, electric vehicles are the beneficiaries
