- Market research leader Ipsos carried out an EV survey in the states, which also included 2,804 non-EV owners.
- The results show that incentives to purchase are still key to adoption in the states, despite many countries in other regions withdrawing purchase incentives in the last few years.
- Amongst American non-EV owners, the two most common barriers to ownership were both cost and convenience.
EV incentives – withdrawn too soon?
The research found that charging logistics and high purchase cost were the two highest perceived barriers to EV ownership, with each factor selected by 59% of participants. Following this, 35% of respondents agreed that local, state, or federal tax credits towards an EV would increase their likelihood of EV purchase. The USA already has such incentives in place, such as the $7,500 tax credit towards the purchase of new EVs – provided these are vehicles manufactured within North America. The incentives also apply to all used EVs under $25,000, which give credit equal to 30% of the sale price, up to a maximum of $4,000.
The story is slightly different in Europe however, where EV grants vary from region to region. While Ipsos’ research focused on the states, incentives are a similarly popular driver to EV purchase amongst European consumers. While many countries in the region are still offering incentives, areas such as the UK and Germany have already withdrawn purchase incentives to private consumers. The UK ended its £1,500 grant back in 2022, which has led to calls from Fiat to reinstate the grant, while the House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee stated that the removal of grants for private buyers was ‘premature’. More recently, the UK political party, the Liberal Democrats, pledged in their manifesto to reinstate the grant if they are elected in the country’s elections next month.
Additionally, with the European Union just confirming its decision to impose tariffs on imported Chinese EVs, possibly raising their prices for consumers, reviewing the reinstatement of purchase grants is ever more pertinent.
