Hello and welcome to your daily Charge Smart blog! Today, we will be taking a look at the buying habits of EV owners and whether they would ever go back to petrol again!
Above: Embracing a new way of life
A new study in Canada has revealed what we sort of already know. The study which was conducted by the AAA has revealed that a vast majority of EV owners will not buy an ICE car again. The participants were all current EV owners and 95% of them said that when the time came for them to buy their next car, they would definitely buy or lease another electric car.
The same study also found that 75% of these EV owners charge their cars at home, a vast majority though one would have imagined that the number would have been higher since owning an EV means your garage then becomes your local fuel station minus the pies of course.
Let’s move on to the question of range anxiety. It’s often been used as some sort of axe to chop the EV tree down but it wasn’t a problem for the American participants in a similar study who instead said that the price was the biggest barrier holding them back from EV ownership. The AAA found that those people who did think range anxiety was an earth-shattering issue, had their questions quashed once they actually sat behind the wheel of an EV and drove it. What they also realized was that EVs are so technologically advanced that you really have no need to worry about draining the battery because if you’re range is a bit too low, your car will let you know! You won’t be able to turn on the air conditioning, radio and whatever other gadgetry your EV has onboard. Just like the battery saver option on your phone.
The Canadian study also reaffirmed something we already know about EVs being cheaper to run than ICE cars, they also put a number to the difference between the two where EVs saved at least $700 USD over the course of 24,000km of regular driving. The study also found that EVs needed much less maintenance than traditional ICE cars and if the manufacturers requirements are met in terms of scheduled servicing, then the long terms costs are generally very reasonable for EVs.
There was also a sister study done in the U.S about the general interest in electric cars over there. That study found that around 40 million Americans have an interest in purchasing electric cars but they said there was one thing keeping them away from EVs. It was the high up-front cost needed to purchase an EV.
Above: The Nissan Leaf is the best selling EV of all time
If you’re thinking about buying an EV and have some questions then you should find a family member or friend who owns one and try and test drive it. Otherwise, heading down to a local Tesla/Nissan dealership and test driving one of the EVs on offer there will help put out your fears when it comes to range anxiety and so on.
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