On paper, electric cars seem like the obvious alternative to gas powered cars if we’re hoping to build a more sustainable future. However, it seems that not all EV owners are enamored by the technology, and a new study from the University of California, Davis has found that a surprising number of EV owners who actually switch back.
The study, published in the Nature Energy journal, found that between 2015-2019, 18% of EV owners switched back to a gas powered car, and the number is slightly higher at 20% for plug-in hybrid owners, which is a bit surprising given that hybrids are quite literally a hybrid of a gas and electric powered vehicle, meaning that the transition shouldn’t be too jarring.
According to researchers, the problem isn’t so much the cars themselves, but the lack of reliable Level 2 chargers at home. The lack of having a place to reliably charge your car would most definitely put quite a few users off, so it is understandable. They also found that even with public charging stations, many of them were constantly under maintenance and some of them a bit too far to be convenient.
However, we should note that this study seems to cover the state of California. It might not necessarily be true for other states or even other countries, but the problems raised in the study might still be worth looking into if carmakers and governments are hoping to convince more people to hop on board the EV bandwagon.
Filed in . Read more about Electric Cars, Social Hit and Study. Source: cnet