Are You Listening, Tesla And Rivian? Most Potential EV Buyers Aren't Looking For A Fancy Truck — They Just Want Cheap SUVs

There is a widening dissonance between customer expectations and offerings in the U.S. EV market, according to a new EV sentiment survey conducted by the car shopping website Edmunds.

What Happened: Customers looking to purchase an EV have a few considerations in terms of price, range, and even vehicle type which do not sync with what is offered in the market as per the survey conducted by Edmunds among shoppers in January.

About 47% of EV shoppers, Edmunds noted, want an EV priced below $40,000, with 22% saying they want a vehicle under $30,000.

However, there are no new EVs priced below $30,000, Edmunds noted, while adding that there are only a select few options such as the Hyundai Kona electric even under $40,000.

Edmunds pinned the average transaction price of an EV in 2023 at $61,702 while other vehicles including combustion engine vehicles stand at an average price point of $47,450.

Furthermore, most consumers, almost 85%, want to purchase electric cars including wagons and SUVs instead of pickup trucks.

However, contrary to customer preferences, EV makers are increasingly focused on rolling out EV trucks such as the Rivian R1T, Ford F-150 Lightning, and the Cybertruck. EV pickup trucks, Edmunds noted, remain a niche product with a limited consumer base.

Why It Matters: While the EV market is growing, it is still not catering to customer demands, Edmunds said. This, coupled with concerns over charging infrastructure, limits EV sales growth in the short term, it noted.

Edmunds sees the EV sales growth rate slowing down through 2024 and rising to just 8% market share despite jumping from 5.2% in 2022 to 6.9% in 2023.

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