Electric uncertainty

With the Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf set to hit dealer lots, 40% of consumers still feel they don’t know enough about the technology to consider an electric vehicle for their next purchase, according to Cars.com.

While the bulk of consumers are still unsure of the technology, those who said they would consider an electric vehicle (36%) for their next car purchase outweighed those who said they would not (24%).

"Electric cars still face many hurdles in the minds of consumers who have range anxiety," Cars.com Editor Patrick Olsen said in a statement. "When asked for reasons they would not purchase an electric car, 54 percent said they feared they would run out of electricity while out on the road, while 43 percent said they drive distances greater than electric technology will currently allow."

This survey was conducted online by Impulse Research with a random sample of 1,030 men and women, 18 and older.

SURVEY REPORTS
• 36% said they don’t have or don’t want to pay for an electric outlet in their garage for charging an electric vehicle.

• Consumers also have high expectations on an acceptable amount of time for a vehicle to fully recharge, with 41% of consumers indicating it should take less than 2 hours.

• While there was a wide discrepancy among consumers when it comes to the amount of miles per charge that was considered acceptable, roughly a quarter of all consumers said they would expect more than the 400 miles per charge.

• Men are almost twice as likely as women to consider the new technology and 60% of consumers age 18-24 said they would consider an electric car, while only 25% of consumers age 45 to 54 said they would consider one.

• 54% of consumers said they don’t know enough about clean diesel to consider it for their next car purchase. Cost of diesel fuel was the primary deterrent to consideration, with 59% citing the expense of fuel as a reason not to buy.