Why nearly half of EV owners want to switch back to gas vehicles after major buyer's remorse

Electric vehicles (EV) may benefit the environment, but thousands of owners have expressed their regret over their car purchase. 

A McKinsey Mobility Consumer Pulse presentation released in June 2024 by McKinsey & Company indicated that 46 percent of EV owners in the US are 'very' likely to switch back to gas-powered vehicles.

The data is based on responses from nearly 37,000 participants who own EVs, but the US results are what surprised the company that conducted the study.

'I didn't expect that, I thought, "Once an EV buyer, always an EV buyer,"' the head of McKinsey's Center for Future Mobility, Philipp Kampshoff, told Automotive News.

The US ranked second out of the nine countries in the study that had the most EV users looking to switch back, with the biggest reason being the low approval rating of EV cars' charging infrastructure.

A total of 35 percent of the study's global respondents said they would want to switch back to gas-powered vehicles because charging stations are 'not yet' good enough.

On top of that, 34 percent of participants voiced their concern about the high total ownership cost, while another 32 percent were worried about frequent charging stops during long-distance trips.

Other reasons why EV owners said they wanted to get rid of their cars were the inability to charge the vehicle at home, the stress behind needing to charge the car, the mobility change requirements and their overall lackluster experience driving an EV.

The other countries that respondents in the survey represented were Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Norway.

Australia was the only location with a higher percentage of EV owners looking to switch back to gas-powered cars than the U.S.

The percentages in other countries were all lower than 40 percent, with Japan having the most loyal EV owners; only 13 percent were dissatisfied enough to admit they'd switch back to gas.

Eleven percent of the EV owners who participated in the study had a problem with how far the nearest charging station was to their home, and even more glaring, a total of 38 percent claimed that a charging station was not close to their home at all.

And for long-distance traveling and road trips, 40 percent said that there were not enough charging stations along highways and main roads to warrant the car's purchase.

McKinsey & Company published its media presentation three months after the a new rule involving EVs was issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

According to the guideline, 56 percent of all new vehicle sales must be electric by 2032, along with at least 13 percent of them being plug-in hybrids or other partial EVs.

Companies have since begun investing billions of dollars in factories and battery technology in order to speed up the vehicle sale process, according to AP.

This rule is also meant to help cut pollution and fight climate change, which is are prime focuses in President Joe Biden's agenda.

'The electric vehicle market is growing, but consumers have enough reservations about the current options and charging infrastructure challenges to limit more significant growth in the short term,' said analyst Jessica Caldwell.

Transport secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement: 'Not only will these new standards save Americans money at the pump every time they fill up, they will also decrease harmful pollution and make America less reliant on foreign oil,' he said in a statement.'

Unfortunately, it's not enough to make drivers want to keep their EVs.

'The charging infrastructure just isn't good enough. I think in areas like California it's better but most of America doesn't have enough chargers,' said motorist Michael Woods.

'You can see in the car dealerships that EVs are piling up because nobody wants them. It's a shame because I really wanted to love mine.'