Nearly 20 percent of EV buyers switch back to a petrol vehicle – study

Nearly 20 percent of EV buyers switch back to a petrol vehicle, according to a new US study which found charging infrastructure, of the lack of it, was the main driver.

The study, published in Nature Energy, looked specifically at EV buyers in California between 2015 and 2019, and found 18 per cent of buyers (and 20 per cent of PHEV shoppers) found their way back into an ICE vehicle as their next new car.

The main cause, the study says, was a lack of access to suitable fast charging, and specifically to a wallbox at home, with the study finding that relying too heavily on public charging infrastructure was a major cause for “discontinuance”.

The study found that some 50 per cent of EV buyers in California who had access to home fast charging went on to buy another electric vehicle, while 53 percent of respondents said they were less likely to buy another EV without a wallbox at home.

Charging infrastructure remains a key focus of Australia’s fledgling EV rollout, with Victoria announcing a $100 million EV package includes $46 million in direct EV incentives, $19 million in additional infrastructure, $10 million to buy zero emissions vehicles for the Victorian fleet and a $5 million “innovation fund” to encourage the uptake of EVs in the commercial vehicle sector.