The lack of EV charging infrastructure is so bad it's driving owners back to gas-powered cars

A Volkswagen ID.4 electric vehicle (EV) charges via a CCS DC fast charger from Electrify America at a shopping mall parking lot in Torrance, California, on February 23, 2024. PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images

• EV charging is so bad it's driving people back to fossil fuels.
• Lack of charging infrastructure is already a barrier for many would-be EV buyers.
• The last thing the auto industry needs is people ditching their EVs.

Issues with charging have nearly half of electric vehicle owners in the US considering going back to fossil fuels – the latest bad sign for the EV transition.

A recent consumer study conducted by McKinsey & Co. found that 46% of US EV owners surveyed are likely to switch back to a gas-powered vehicle, compared to a global average of 29% of EV owners who reported they will likely switch back to an internal-combustion engine.

The top reason respondents listed for ditching their EV was a lack of charging infrastructure. Other charging issues high on the list included a lack of charging at home and the impact of long-distance driving.

Range anxiety and access to charging infrastructure have long been considered one of the top barriers to electric vehicle adoption, but the revelation that these same issues may drive current battery-powered car owners back into gas-powered cars is a new blow for the already rocky EV transition.

While there are plenty of shoppers interested in an electric vehicle, the options on sale today are often too big, too expensive, or not practical enough to replace a gas-powered car.

Car companies are already scrambling to adjust to a sudden change in the electric vehicle market in order to draw more new customers. The slowdown in electric vehicle sales growth has rocked everyone from Ford to Tesla, denting sales and forcing executives to rethink their long-term plans for electric vehicles.

While the industry has made great strides in electric vehicle range and battery charging times, huge holes in the infrastructure make certain areas nearly impossible to navigate without a gas-powered engine.

McKinsey's study found this issue to be particularly acute in the US, which had the second-highest rate of respondents say they're considering ditching their EV. (In first place was Australia, with 49% of respondents saying they are likely to switch back.)

America's high placement shouldn't come as too much of a surprise. Charging infrastructure here has long been a hot-potato issue, which has held back efforts to build more chargers.

While a push from the automotive industry to fund charging infrastructure has led to a boom in public charging stations in the last two years, these have largely been money-losing ventures.

On the government side, the Biden Administration has set aside $7.5 billion for charging infrastructure with a vow to add 500,000 EV charging stations by 2030. But that effort in reality has played out slowly so far, with only a handful of stations going live since the funding was approved two years ago.

Addressing charging infrastructure is already high on the industry's list of priorities when it comes to removing barriers to adoption, but the fact that it might also drive existing EV owners away only amplifies the issue.

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