1 in 5 electric vehicle owners in California switched back to gas because charging their cars is a hassle, new research shows

[El joe]

1 in 5 electric vehicle owners in California switched back to gas because charging their cars is a hassle, research shows

Roughly 20% of electric vehicle owners in California replaced their cars with gas ones, a recent study shows.

www.businessinsider.com

 

[GtiMart]

The main cause being: not having access to level 2 charging (at home). Makes sense... I would not have an EV if I couldn't charge at home overnight. 120V would not cut it. EVs require a mindset change...you don't go to the "station", you charge at home. Road trips are completely separate, where DC fast charging is essential, but that was not part of the reasons in the article.

 

[Ruffles]

Yeah, I've long felt if you don't have access to level 2 charging at home, an EV will not be a good fit. There is just too much hassle with public charging.

 

[Silicon Desert]

Though the article makes some good points about NON-Tesla cars, to someone considering an EV and not knowing much about the difference in types of charging, they can easily interpret the article as being negative on getting an EV. It is also of interest to me about the motive of the article, especially when I have seen this author make positive comments about oil related industries recently. I wonder where he got that statistic.

As a side note, it catches my attention that it would be nice to know the difference between voltage and current.... "offer 480 volts of direct current." He might know, but should state it differently.

 

[GtiMart]

I don't like the way the article was written. I hate it when articles say "it takes 6 hours to fill the EV battery whereas it takes 3 minutes for a gas tank". That is pointless as my car charges at home while I eat, sleep etc. This type of statement perpetuates the idea that EVs make you lose time. Contrary to ICE, EVs have two very separate "filling" situations: everyday and road trips. Yep, road trips require a bit of planning and filling is slower. I just wish people would recognize that for most people, this is only a problem a couple times a year. Heck, you can rent an ICE car for a trip if you need to save those minutes and have a bladder of steel.

Still, I think the article is interesting. It was a surprise to me. It shows a lack of understanding from those consumers, and possibly bad marketing. When I look at local EV facebook groups I'm continuously surprised at how little people research before buying. I guess this is what it means to appeal to the masses.

 

[El joe]

I don't like the way the article was written. I hate it when articles say "it takes 6 hours to fill the EV battery whereas it takes 3 minutes for a gas tank". That is pointless as my car charges at home while I eat, sleep etc. This type of statement perpetuates the idea that EVs make you lose time. Contrary to ICE, EVs have two very separate "filling" situations: everyday and road trips. Yep, road trips require a bit of planning and filling is slower. I just wish people would recognize that for most people, this is only a problem a couple times a year. Heck, you can rent an ICE car for a trip if you need to save those minutes and have a bladder of steel.

Still, I think the article is interesting. It was a surprise to me. It shows a lack of understanding from those consumers, and possibly bad marketing. When I look at local EV facebook groups I'm continuously surprised at how little people research before buying. I guess this is what it means to appeal to the masses.

Yeah, the article is written pretty crappily. I mean, they say the Volt has 300 miles of EV range for goodness sakes. But the idea of getting everyone here in California to drive EVs by 2030 is ridiculous. Besides the education of how to charge and how to plan trips, there's also the lack of at-home charging for most people that California has no real plan on how to resolve.

 

[whisperingshad]

Honestly Most should buy a Plug in Hybrid before moving to straight to EV. I went ICE to prius, to prius prime to Tesla....Already experiencing Regen braking for so long helped with the difference of driving with the Tesla. Also having the Prime adaptive cruise control helped with "trusting" the autopilot(at least for the speed, maybe not lane centering". The Prime also helped to see how EV charging works etc, and if its too hard to charge just 25 miles, then someone should go full EV for sure. Oh and realizing that go Tesla will NOT save on money, compared to a Prime or Prius...A Truck or older car yes.

 

[miimura]

Business Insider is ridiculous. They are talking about the same UC Davis study covered by Electrek below.

The study found that people buying Tesla vehicles are the least likely EV owners to go back to gas, while Fiat 500e buyers are much more likely to go back to gas.

Duh, I wonder why....?

Why some electric car owners return to gas – the reasons aren't surprising

A study has looked into why about 18% of electric car owners go back to gas-powered vehicles. The reasons are...

electrek.co

 

[BooMan]

I don't like the way the article was written. I hate it when articles say "it takes 6 hours to fill the EV battery whereas it takes 3 minutes for a gas tank". That is pointless as my car charges at home while I eat, sleep etc. This type of statement perpetuates the idea that EVs make you lose time. Contrary to ICE, EVs have two very separate "filling" situations: everyday and road trips. Yep, road trips require a bit of planning and filling is slower. I just wish people would recognize that for most people, this is only a problem a couple times a year. Heck, you can rent an ICE car for a trip if you need to save those minutes and have a bladder of steel.

Still, I think the article is interesting. It was a surprise to me. It shows a lack of understanding from those consumers, and possibly bad marketing. When I look at local EV facebook groups I'm continuously surprised at how little people research before buying. I guess this is what it means to appeal to the masses.

While I don’t completely disagree with everything you state, I will say that I typically advise people that EV’s may not be worth it if they do not have access to home charging and it will be their only car.
Also the road trip issue is real. Most people I know who occasionally do a long distance drive (400 miles or more) will find ev’s problematic. Not everyone desires having to stop every 2 hrs as unless you are incontinent that will simply be frustrating. But the worse is that for even moderate distance trips (eg going to the beach 120 miles away) you really can’t take an ev unless you are cool with the hassle of charging and whatnot. My M3 is mostly a city car. I have an ICE for anything beyond that.

 

[dipper]

I did!

Got rid of my wife's Rav4esla when warranty expired and got a real Toyota. Why? It is not Tesla quality. Saw the motor is going to go out with Tesla motor famous for leaking coolant and die. And got a car that is not going to break down. Made in Japan Toyota.... a Prius Prime. Got it under $20k.

 

[wws]

I recently reconnected with a very tech savvy friend whom I haven't seen since high school. He told me he had a 1st gen Leaf for a few years, but switched back to a gas car. Just wasn't practical for doing the driving around the Los Angeles area that he needed to do, and his wife refused to drive it. So it all came down to range. He has almost pulled the trigger on a Tesla a couple of times and may do so soon.

 

[mk677]

I recently reconnected with a very tech savvy friend whom I haven't seen since high school. He told me he had a 1st gen Leaf for a few years, but switched back to a gas car. Just wasn't practical for doing the driving around the Los Angeles area that he needed to do, and his wife refused to drive it. So it all came down to range. He has almost pulled the trigger on a Tesla a couple of times and may do so soon.

the first gen leaf was barely capable of going 70 miles on a full charge, then the battery suffered from severe battery degradation that probably took the range close to 50 miles, in a place like LA that wouldn't work well.
at that time only a tesla model S was available and that was an expensive RWD only car that had a lot of new car teething issues. 10 years later there are many more EV options

 

[KJD]

1 in 5 electric vehicle owners in California switched back to gas because charging their cars is a hassle, research shows

Roughly 20% of electric vehicle owners in California replaced their cars with gas ones, a recent study shows.

www.businessinsider.com

This is why we should change building codes to require a NEMA-1450 outlet in the garage of every new house built.

 

[mark95476]

There's no going back to a gasser for me!

My MY ownership has spoiled me and I truly understand the draw and benefits of a Tesla. I have a Cybertruck reservation so that'll be my next vehicle.

 

[PhantomX]

This is why we should change building codes to require a NEMA-1450 outlet in the garage of every new house built.

New homes are not the issues, at least here in OC. Most people don't buy new homes though, and many can't afford a home with a garage. There is a major infrastructure issue that needs to be resolved to get majority into an EV.

 

[mk677]

I recently reconnected with a very tech savvy friend whom I haven't seen since high school. He told me he had a 1st gen Leaf for a few years, but switched back to a gas car. Just wasn't practical for doing the driving around the Los Angeles area that he needed to do, and his wife refused to drive it. So it all came down to range. He has almost pulled the trigger on a Tesla a couple of times and may do so soon.

the first gen leaf was barely capable of going 70 miles on a full charge, then the battery suffered from severe battery degradation that probably took the range close to 50 miles, in a place like LA that wouldn't work well.
at that time only a tesla model S was available and that was an expensive RWD only car that had a lot of new car teething issues. 10 years later there are many more EV options

 

[redalf]

Maybe I’m misunderstanding the study, but I think these numbers are being conflated incorrectly.

The survey received 4512 responses, 1856 of these had made a subsequent purchase decision regarding the first PEV we surveyed them about. Discontinuance in this sample is 20.96% (387 households), while 79.04% (1459 households) continue to own a PEV

That’s NOT 1 in 5 EV owners. 40% of EV owners made a decision to replace their EV, 1 in 5 of THOSE people replaced it with an ICE vehicle, while the rest replaced it with another EV, and presumably 60% of EV owners continue to drive their EVs. If I round up, 387/4512 is a bit closer to 1 in 10, which is not an insignificant number, but it’s not quite the mass adoption failure the headline would like you to believe. And the general points of needing to adopt a new driving mindset, easy access to level 2 charging at home, etc are definitely things that should be more openly talked about to those considering a purchase, it’s not all magic and comfort (but it kind of mostly is!).

 

[mark95476]

Good point.

One comment: A few friends had leases on EVs (eg, Leaf, eGolf) and while the lease was very good, the buy-out wasn't economical so they needed a new vehicle.

Maybe I’m misunderstanding the study, but I think these numbers are being conflated incorrectly.



That’s NOT 1 in 5 EV owners. 40% of EV owners made a decision to replace their EV, 1 in 5 of THOSE people replaced it with an ICE vehicle, while the rest replaced it with another EV, and presumably 60% of EV owners continue to drive their EVs. If I round up, 387/4512 is a bit closer to 1 in 10, which is not an insignificant number, but it’s not quite the mass adoption failure the headline would like you to believe. And the general points of needing to adopt a new driving mindset, easy access to level 2 charging at home, etc are definitely things that should be more openly talked about to those considering a purchase, it’s not all magic and comfort (but it kind of mostly is!).

 

[GtiMart]

Thanks @redalf , I was misled by a badly written, or purposefully misleading, article. As you say it's still significant but not as big.

 

[wws]

the first gen leaf was barely capable of going 70 miles on a full charge, then the battery suffered from severe battery degradation that probably took the range close to 50 miles, in a place like LA that wouldn't work well.
at that time only a tesla model S was available and that was an expensive RWD only car that had a lot of new car teething issues. 10 years later there are many more EV options

Quite true. The article mentioned the Fiat 500e with similar concerns. Thinking about it, one of my brother-in-laws was also a Leaf driver. (In fact he was on the wait list for one of the first Leafs in 2011. People were actually trying to buy his spot in line from him.) It was leased, and he subsequently leased a second one. But he lives in the Houston area - and once again range became an issue. While it was fine for his work commute, he said he couldn't drive his wife to the Galleria and back home on a single charge. He reluctantly went back to a gas car (Prius), but really wants to go EV again.

I doubt if many Tesla drivers have sold out and gone back to ICE. Though I'd imagine most Tesla drivers also have an ICE car or two in their stables for when they really need it.