Why some EV owners are switching back to traditional cars

The ownership experience with electric vehicles isn’t altogether positive for a significant proportion of buyers, according to a study of one of the most EV-friendly regions on the planet – California.

Range anxiety, poor charging infrastructure and the time required to charge an EV were some of the reasons listed by the 4160 people who took part in the research as to why they wouldn’t buy another EV in future.

The study, which was conducted in association with the University of California’s Institute of Transportation Studies, found that around 80 per cent of EV owners will buy another battery-powered car when next upgrading – but that almost 20 per cent plan to ditch their electric car in favour of a petrol-engined vehicle.

According to the report published at Nature Energy, discontinuance of plug-in electric vehicles in California “occurs at a rate of 20 per cent for plug-in hybrid electric vehicle owners and 18 per cent for battery-electric vehicle owners”.

“We show that discontinuance is related to dissatisfaction with the convenience of charging, having other vehicles in the household that are less efficient, not having Level 2 [240-volt] charging at home, having fewer household vehicles and not being male,” the report’s authors said.

California offers strong incentives to purchase EVs, which is driving up adoption rates. However, the data suggests ownership experiences are not uniformly positive.

Electric car owners most likely to trade in their EV for a conventional combustion-engined car included those with only one car and who didn’t have off-street parking, making at-home charging impractical if not near-impossible.

Electric cars currently only account for a fraction of new vehicle sales in Australia, but the move towards widespread electrification is underway as major overseas markets and the world’s biggest car manufacturers shift from internal combustion engines to plug-in models.

Victoria has this week introduced a $3000 subsidy for the purchase of new electric vehicles as debate continues to rage over a new EV road-user tax that’s set to be introduced in the state.

The federal government is also under increasing pressure to formulate a long-term policy to reduce emissions in the transport section, with EV subsidies and recharging infrastructure high on the agenda.