- Americans say range and charging anxiety are the biggest barriers to going all-electric, not price
- The share of electric vehicles in all new car purchases declined after the tax credit ended, suggesting that price is still very important.
- Access to home charging is a major bottleneck, prompting many to choose hybrid cars instead.
The expiration of the federal clean vehicle tax credit Declining electric vehicle market sharewhich clearly shows that price matters a lot. However, a new study finds that Americans cite range and charging time more often than cost as concerns with electric vehicles, and they are more likely to cite these factors when hesitant.
Deloitte It recently published its 2026 Global Automotive Consumer Study, which surveyed more than 28,500 people from 27 countries between October and November 2025. It found that 47% of Americans surveyed reported that electric vehicle range was the top concern preventing them from purchasing an electric vehicle. Next was the time of charging, cited by 44% of respondents as a concern, followed by the total cost, cited by 40%.
Intention to purchase electric vehicles rose from just 5% of respondents to 7% in 2025 compared to 2024, while for pure combustion and hybrid vehicles (including PHEVs) the proportion remained steady at 61% and 26%, respectively. This shows that interest in pure electric vehicles is still low in the United States, and the main reason 52% of those surveyed are considering switching to electric vehicles is the lower operating cost of EVs. It’s especially low if you’re able to charge at home, without using public networks.
However, there appears to be a bottleneck: 77% indicated that they plan to charge their electric vehicles at home, while 53% reported that they do not have access to this service. Custom home charger. It’s not clear what percentage had a parking lot that allowed the charger to be easily installed, but didn’t have the charger yet.
The crux of the matter seems to be that US car buyers are not abandoning electric vehicles, but they are pragmatic and don’t just want to switch to electric vehicles because Better for local air qualityespecially if they end up costing more money than a similar combustion car. That’s why Popularity of hybrids Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) are on the rise worldwide, including the United States, in 2025.
We’re now seeing an expected after-tax slowdown in electric vehicle sales, but they will continue to gain popularity for the foreseeable future, though not as quickly as they would have with the $7,500 incentive remaining in place. The loss of the tax credit had an immediate impact Cox Automotive Noting that the share of electric cars in total sales fell from 11.6% in September to 5.8% in October, the first month without the incentive.
That’s still lower than months like January and May, when electric vehicles accounted for 7.7% and 6.9% of all new car sales in America, respectively. We’ll see how things change at the beginning of 2026.
With more affordable models to choose from, like the new Chevrolet Bolt and moderation electric vehicles, Nissan leafand standard versions of the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y, buyers have plenty of solid options if they want to go electric without paying more than $40,000.
Participants appeared less loyal to certain brands, with 53% reporting that they planned to purchase a different brand. Quality was the primary driver for 58% of them when choosing another brand, followed by performance (51%) and price (46%).
They also reported that the idea of over-the-air updates to improve cars over time was attractive, with 62% saying they would pay more for a car with this functionality, underscoring the importance of Software-defined car transformation For buyers.
