More car buyers are shifting to EVs — but the reasons why are nuanced
Customers are continuing to shift to electric vehicles, but industry analysts say the picture is complicated. A rising share of car buyers traded their gas
Customers are continuing to shift to electric vehicles, but industry analysts say the picture is complicated. A rising share of car buyers traded their gas cars in for EVs in April, according to data Edmunds shared with CNBC. In January, 67.1% of buyers purchasing a new EV at dealerships traded in a gas car. By April, that climbed 7%, to 72.1%, according to the auto site. The data also showed that EV loyalty numbers are rising: In January, 26.2% of buyers traded in an older EV for a new EV and 34.3% traded for a used one.
Those numbers rose, as of April 26, to 35.4% and 44.5%, respectively. These data points indicate EV interest is growing, despite the loss of federal and some state incentives that encouraged consumers to purchase the vehicles, and a pivot among many automakers back to internal combustion and hybrid vehicles. Analysts and industry insiders have cited rising fuel prices as a possible factor motivating these decisions. The national average gas prices has risen roughly 44% from the same period a year ago, according to AAA.
Edmunds Senior Director of Insights Ivan Drury said it's still a bit too early to tell if this is a strong, lasting shift. Oil and gas prices started rising after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28. About three more months of high gas prices and elevated EV trade-in numbers will give a better indication of whether customers feel pinched enough at the pump to consider a switch, Drury said.
"At six months, you're going to start dragging in even more consumers who are just going to be over it, especially if we see that other costs are increasing too," he said.
The BriefWire