Most Americans Still Not Sold on Electric Cars
Wednesday, August 31, 2022
Rasmussen Polling
The federal government is spending billions of dollars to promote electric vehicles, but most Americans still don’t consider them practical.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that only 28% of American Adults believe electric cars today are practical for most drivers. Fifty-four percent (54%) think electric cars aren’t practical, while 18% say they’re not sure. Those findings are little changed from March. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
The federal Department of Transportation plans to spend nearly $5 billion over five years to help states create a network of electric vehicle charging stations. However, 69% of Americans believe it’s likely that most cars will still run primarily on gasoline a decade from now, including 37% who say it’s Very Likely gasoline-powered automobiles will still be the norm in 10 years. Only 23% consider it unlikely that most cars will still be powered by gasoline in 2032.
The survey of 1,000 U.S. American Adults was conducted on August 17-18, 2022 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
While 37% Democrats think electric cars today are practical for most drivers, that belief is shared by only 23% of Republicans and 24% of those not affiliated with either party. Sixty-six percent (66%) of Republicans, 46% of Democrats and 51% of the unaffiliated say electric cars aren’t practical.
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Majorities of every political category – 77% of Republicans, 70% of Democrats and 62% of unaffiliateds – believe it’s at least somewhat likely that most cars will still run primarily on gasoline a decade from now.
There is not much “gender gap” on electric cars, although men (31%) are somewhat more likely than women (26%) to think they’re practical for most drivers.
Majorities of every racial group – 68% of whites, 72% of blacks and 69% of other minorities – think it’s at least somewhat likely that most cars will still run primarily on gasoline in 2032. Whites (27%) are slightly less likely than blacks (29%) or other minorities to say today’s electric cars are practical for most drivers.
Forty percent (40%) of Americans under 40 believe electric cars are practical for most drivers, but only 22% of those ages 40-64 and 16% of those 65 and older agree.
Married Americans are more likely than their unmarried peers to think most cars will still run primarily on gasoline a decade from now.
Government employees (43%) are far more likely than private sector workers (25%) to say today’s electric cars are practical for most drivers.
Americans who earn more than $100,000 a year are more likely than those earning less to think electric cars are practical for most drivers today.
Among those who don’t believe electric cars today are practical today, 50% think it’s Very Likely most cars will still run primarily on gasoline a decade from now, a belief shared by just 25% of those who think today’s electric cars are practical.
Economic confidence increased to 89.3 in this month’s Rasmussen Reports Economic Index, more than 10 points higher than July.
As students return to the classroom this fall, more than four times as many Americans rate public schools poor as rate them excellent.
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