Electric vehicles are still primarily for the well paid and well educated, according to a new study that examined data on EV ownership in the US.
People who are planning on buying an EV share some definite demographic traits, according to a survey by BlastPoint. These traits include high incomes, college degrees, home ownership and ownership of multiple vehicles already.
BlastPoint found in a three-part examination that people ready to buy an EV have an average annual income of $150,000. The median household income in the US in 2018 was $63,179, according to the U.S. Census.
“Ready-to-Buys are typically professionals working in white-collar careers. They’ve attained college-level or, often, advanced degrees. This means they have the income and buying power to make purchases and investments,” according to a post on BlastPoint’s website written by Janeen Ellsworth.
Home ownership is another important predicter of EV adoption. The people most likely to become EV owners already own a detached single family home worth $275,000 that has a garage or driveway, according to BlastPoint. The rate of home ownership in the US is about 67%, according to census data.
Other findings in the report are that prospective EV owners have a daily work commute of about 27 minutes, and are highly engaged on social media, particularly LinkedIn.
Common careers for EV buyers are IT and nursing, and buyers are also frequent online shoppers, according to BlastPoint.
Electric vehicles remain more expensive than their gas-powered counterparts. According to Quartz, the average cost of a new car in the US was about $36,600 in June 2019. The average cost of an electric vehicle is falling (a $64,300 to $55,600 drop from 2018 to 2019, according to Cox Automotive), but still well above that of gas-powered vehicles.
