Americans bought one million fully electric vehicles in 2023, not including plug-in hybrids, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. By the second half of last year, there were 95 electric vehicle models available in the U.S.—40% more than in 2022.
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But even with more EV sales, and sweeping bans against new gas-powered car sales among several states by 2035, America still produces the most carbon emissions from transportation. Electric vehicles are relatively new, still cost a pretty penny, and don’t have supportive infrastructure nationwide. Range anxiety, charge anxiety, and not qualifying for a tax credit are just of the hurdles with choosing electric.
Among the latest studies regarding electric vehicle adoption in the U.S., two confirm disparity. An Edmunds study shows the difference between men and women EV buyers. Turns out, 67% of electric vehicle buyers were men. Edmunds took a close look at purchases from January to June 2023 and found that only 33% of women bought EVs. Typically, the average among car buying in general (not EVs) is 59% men, 41% women.
Electric vehicles accounted for about 8% of all new vehicles sales in America during the first half of 2023, according to the Bloomberg NEF report
When looking at intentions, 31% of women confirmed they’re not interested in EVs but would consider (24% of them) a hybrid or plug-in hybrid. Only 10% of men said they had the same sentiment toward hybrid or plug-in hybrid. On one hand, car dealers and automakers alike seem to reason that buying a vehicle is an emotional decision, so they agree they’d have to do a better job at communicating singular selling points and practical reasons for buying an EV.
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On the other end of the spectrum, women seem to enjoy the logical reasons such as EV range, compared to men who care more about the auto brand they’re buying. Men also prefer to be the first to have something (early adopters), unlike just 13% of women who agreed. Men crave the EV technology, while women are looking to fight climate change and care about the environmental reasons for choosing electric.
Women are interested in buying lower cost electric vehicles. Over one-third are looking to buy for less than $30,000 when the average is double that price. So price expectations aren’t truly realistic, which is yet another reason EV adoption is slow to kickstart among women.
The Porsche Taycan is the least driven EV, with just 4,846 miles a year (iSeeCars)
According to a recent article published by Scientific American, electric vehicle owners don’t drive as much to actually impact a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Turns out drivers of gas-powered vehicles drive more. The authors analyzed odometer reading from 12.5 million used cars and 11.4 million SUVS (2016-2022 models) and discovered the average mileage for ICE vehicles was 11,642 annually. For EVs? Only 7,165 miles.
One reason for this can be that most households with an electric vehicle in their driveway own multiple vehicles of which some are gas-powered. The conclusion is that drivers may be using EVs just for shorter trips. Scientific American says if the top 20% highest-mileage gas-powered cars were replaced with electric vehicles, that would decrease emission by over 15% as much as replacing vehicles in the 20% lowest mileage. In other words, EVs are far from solving our climate change problem.
If it wasn’t for the Tesla brand, the average miles for EV drivers annually would drop from 9,059 to 6,719, according to iSeeCars
iSeeCars seconds this sentiment revealing in one study of 860,000 vehicles that electric cars cost 47% more than ICE cars, but are driven 29% less. iSeeCars numbers confirmed an average electric car is driven 9,059 miles annually, while a gas-powered one is on the road for 12,758 miles. Turns out three-year-old Tesla EVs are the closest in driving behavior with ICE counterparts.
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