CES 2022 this week aptly demonstrates carmakers are pressing ahead to produce electric vehicle (EV) models in coming years.
A big obstacle the industry still faces, however, is getting U.S. consumers to buy EVs, despite their rising interest in green technology. Consumers continue to show they are worried about the upfront cost of EVs and also how to charge them quickly, especially on long trips.
Nearly 70% of US. consumers in a new Deloitte survey said they want to retain internal combustion engine vehicles. Also, a majority (53%) in the survey said they do not want to pay more than $500 for EVs or other alternatives to internal combustion. The survey included 1,031 U.S. consumers of driving age.
The auto industry has remained “remarkably committed to electric mobility,” noted Karen Bowman, Deloitte LLP’s U.S. automotive leader. To be successful, she said automakers have to communicate the value proposition of EVs to consumers and, importantly, bolster the charging infrastructure for EVs.
Much of the auto industry seems resolved to show they can manufacture EVs in large volumes even as the EV charging infrastructure will remain a complex problem, involving powerful players in government and electric utilities. President Biden’s massive $1.75 trillion Build Back Better initiative includes $320 billion in clean energy funding including $12,000 in EV tax credits for car buyers and funding for charging stations, but U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, has been opposed and holds the critically-needed vote in a 50-50 Senate.
The Deloitte survey found that consumers who are not considering buying an EV as their next vehicle cited worries about driving range and lack of public charging infrastructure as their biggest concerns. Also, U.S. consumer expect that a fully charged battery-based EV (BEV) be able to drive more than 500 miles on a charge, compared to 258 miles of range on a charge expected by consumers in China.
CNBC provided a thoughtful analysis of the overall value of driving an EV based on upfront costs and the cost of electricity to charge it.
Kelley Blue Book puts the average EV purchase price at $56,437, about $10,000 above the industry average of $46,329 for all gas and EVs. Today’s EV pricing is about the same as an entry-level luxury vehicle.
In addition to range on a single charge, some consumers are worried about the time it takes to charge an EV, which can be inconvenient on a road trip. JD Power has found it takes about eight hours to charge a vehicle on a home level 2 charger, which costs about $2,000 to install.
A common 120-volt household electric outlet can be used with level 1 charging cables usually provided on EVs, but that can require up to 40 hours for a full charge. It can take up to 30 minutes to fully charge an EV at a commercial charging station, which typically uses a faster level 3 charger.
There are about 46,000 commercial charging stations nationwide, compared to about 150,000 gas stations. “I need to have as many places to charge a car as I can get gas,” one driver recently told Fierce Electronics.
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