Why fewer Americans are opting for electric vehicles despite price cuts – Deseret News

Elon Musk’s Tesla brand accounts for nearly 50% of all electric vehicle purchases in the U.S., yet even the most popular electric automotive company is lowering its vehicle prices. Why? Because fewer Americans are choosing to go electric, according to surveys on the issue.

In a post on X, Musk commented on the news of his company’s vehicle prices dropping:

“Other cars change prices constantly and often by wide margins via dealer markups and manufacturer/dealer incentives. Only a fool thinks the ‘MSRP’ is the real price. Tesla prices must change frequently in order to match production with demand.”

A recent AAA survey found that Americans are less attracted to switching out their gas guzzler for an electric vehicle than last year. Pollsters dropped interest by 5% compared to last year, and AAA Director of Automotive Research Greg Brannon believes it has to do with the “overwhelming” burdens consumers don’t want to manage.

“Early adopters who wanted an EV already have one,” Brannon said, per the press release. “The remaining group of people who have yet to adopt EVs consider the practicality, cost, convenience and ownership experience, and for some, those are big enough hurdles to keep them from making the jump to fully electric.”

However, hybrid vehicles may be the key to returning consumers to the sales floor. Thirty-one percent of people surveyed said they were “likely” or “very likely” to purchase a vehicle that came with dual power.

Why are people against electric vehicles?

A Gallup survey published in April indicated that younger consumers, higher-income respondents and Democrats are the most common subgroups that own electric vehicles. Still, the survey found that 48% of Americans are not even considering switching over, an increase from 2023′s 41%.

“The federal government had hoped that by 2030, 60% of new vehicle production would consist of EVs. But that appears unlikely to occur unless consumer preferences change rapidly in the coming years,” according to the survey. “A steady 16% of Americans over the past two years have indicated that they are EV consumers, either owning one or seriously considering buying one.”

The idea that the future would be filled with space-like vehicles and that the days of carbon emissions filling our atmosphere with toxic by-products would be over is beginning to look more like a pipe dream. Why reduce your carbon footprint when it feels like a hassle and no one else is? That’s one view people have when choosing between gas or electric.

No matter how enticing federal subsidies and regulations are to convert buyers to electric vehicles, the convenience of gasoline keeps many Americans from making the change. However, that hasn’t stopped the Biden administration from pushing Americans to do so. In January, the White House shared a press release to grow the U.S. infrastructure for electric vehicles and lower costs.

In April 2023, Biden set another goal to have electric vehicles make up 50% of all vehicle sales by 2030 in another White House press release: “These incentives will lower the cost of EVs and EV charging infrastructure; increase consumer demand and competition; promote equity and inclusion; and accelerate the growth of the EV market.”

Not necessarily a nonpartisan issue, Biden’s political opponent, former President Donald Trump, said Biden’s electric vehicle push on Americans was a “radical plan,” according to The Associated Press. “Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, and others say Biden’s push for EVs is unfair for consumers and amounts to government overreach, and ultimately will be a liability for Democrats.”

Energy expert Jason Isaac explained to Fox News why Generation Z consumers, who seems to be the most concerned about climate change, are becoming less and less interested in making the vehicle switch.

“I think they’re coming to the realization that what we’ve been doing over the last 50 years, producing more American energy, energy that’s produced more responsibly than anywhere else on the planet has resulted in us reducing pollution (by) 78% over the last five decades,” Isaac said. “The United States is really the model for environmental leadership that the rest of the world needs to follow and you do that by getting access to energy.”