Americans Are Growing Less Interested in Buying Electric Vehicles, Study Says
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There has never been a better selection of electric vehicles on dealer lots than there is today. In the last four years alone, some 75 new all-electric models have arrived in the United States across the many automotive brands on the market. Yet while that might seem like a positive sign for the emerging segment, a recent study by AAA suggests American interest in EVs is at its lowest rate since 2019.
The study, which looked into the likelihood of purchasing an EV and the factors behind that decision, was completed in March of this year and spanned 1128 interviews. AAA found that only 16% of U.S. adults reported being 'very likely' or 'likely' to purchase an EV as their next car — the lowest that figure has been since before the COVID-19 pandemic. Conversely, the percentage of adults who stated they are 'unlikely' or 'very unlikely' to purchase an EV as their next vehicle has grown from 51% to 63% in the last four years.
The survey suggests there is still quite a bit of hesitation surrounding EVs when it comes to the buying public, with a few specific areas of concern. AAA says that high battery repair costs (62%) and a higher purchase price (59%) were the two most-cited reasons for not considering an EV purchase. Other respondents noted a perceived inability for EVs to handle long travel (57%), which seemingly relates to general charging fears. Respondents also pointed to a lack of convenient public charging (56%) and a fear of being left with a flat battery on the roadside (55%). Additionally, 27% of respondents claimed to have issues installing charging at their own residence.
'Since we began tracking interest in fully electric vehicles, we've seen some variability,' said Greg Brannon, director of automotive engineering for AAA. 'While the automotive industry is committed to long-term electrification and providing a diverse range of models, underlying consumer hesitation remains.'
The public's confidence in the growth of the EV segment seems to be slowing, as well. The study suggests that the number of people who believe that EVs will overtake gasoline vehicles in the next decade has dropped from 40% in 2022 to just 23% today.
The recent J.D. Power 2025 U.S. Electric Vehicle Consideration Study — which covers people who intend to buy or lease a new vehicle in the next year, versus the AAA's study that is meant to be representative of the U.S. population overall — paints a bit of a different picture, however. The analytics firm says 24% of vehicle shoppers in the States are 'very likely' to consider purchasing an EV; an additional 35% said they are 'somewhat likely' to do so, which J.D Power says is unchanged from last year.
That said, the firm did note that charging infrastructure remains a pain point with the majority of respondents (52%). J.D. Power's results do contrast the purchase price claims made by the AAA study to a certain degree, stating only 43% are staying away from EVs due to the high purchase prices.
Considered together, the two studies suggest the American public as a whole isn't as jazzed about EVs as they might have once been. The market always speaks its mind, but such a rejection could have lasting impacts on the automotive industry and its key players. Where do you stand on the issue? What is the main thing pushing you towards or away from EV ownership? Let us know in the comments down below.
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Miami Herald
22 minutes ago
- Miami Herald
10 destinations across the US for car enthusiasts to add to their bucket list
They move us through the world, but automobiles play an even more significant role in our daily lives and culture. More than simply a mode of transportation, a car can be a form of self-expression, a marker of social and economic status, and a reflection of the times. Dating back to the 15th century when Italian polymath Leonardo da Vinci was creating designs and models for the world's first self-propelled vehicle, the automobile has a rich history that can't be traced to a single inventor or point in time. From steam, electric, and gasoline vehicles, as well as countless styles, makes, and models-the world has seen many iterations of the car. They've played a pivotal role in shaping American culture and have particularly been used as forms of self-expression and a way to build camaraderie and belonging in communities of color. A quick drive through predominantly Latino, Black, or Japanese American communities in Los Angeles will open your eyes to a world of elaborate paint jobs and the over-the-top hydraulics of the lowrider car clubs that have served as a cultural touchstone. Smithsonian Magazine tracks lowriding in L.A. to the 1940s when car culture began developing in the U.S., particularly in Southern California where people were adapting to a "postwar urban landscape," in which cars were more necessary to get around broadening cities. But the Latino community and their lowriders-typically consisting of Chevrolet Impalas, old school Fords, and vintage Cadillacs, among other types of cars-isn't the only prominent car subculture around. Japanese American auto enthusiasts have also played pivotal roles within the car scene since the 20th century, especially in Southern California. In Los Angeles around the 1970s, Japanese American cruisers would roll out their freshly detailed vehicles and descend on the annual Nisei Week Festival, according to the Japanese American National Museum. Cars have not only helped us go from point A to point B, but they have been cultural touchstones in society, which is why car-centric destinations may also provide unique insight into the history and making of the United States of America. To help car enthusiasts, CoPilot scoured news articles, tourism sites, social media platforms, and the web to compile this list of travel destinations for people who love cars. Admission prices are subject to change, so please check their websites for the latest information. Head over to Reno to peruse through a collection of more than 200 cars at the National Automobile Museum, displayed amid lifelike facades and artifacts from their respective time periods. Recognized as one of the 10 best automobile museums in the U.S. by Galerie magazine, the Reno car museum opened up in 1989 from the seed of gaming mogul Bill Harrah's car collection. Split into four galleries, the museum features cars built in the 1890s and onward. Car lovers will get a glimpse of different exhibits, including celebrity automobiles owned by Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, and John F. Kennedy. Exhibits include the 1907 Thomas Flyer car, which won a race from New York to Paris in 1908, and a medley of speedy cars that have raced competitively on places like the roads of Mexico and the manicured tracks of Indianapolis. Admission costs $15 for adults, $13 for seniors, and $10 for youth. The Zimmerman Automobile Driving Museum is a hidden gem you won't want to miss. The museum, which boasts over 130 antique, vintage, and hot rods, is a one-of-a-kind experience as you can actually sit inside some of the classic beauties on display. If that's not enough, the museum hosts weekly Sunday Rides where they are able to ride alongside the museum's drivers around town. Car lovers can also rent a vintage automobile from the museum for film shoots, photo shoots, weddings, or private events. Admission or suggested donations to the museum are also fairly affordable at $5 for children over 10, seniors for $10, and adults for $15. Savoy Automobile Museum in Cartersville, Georgia, opened in December 2021 and has since drawn flocks of car lovers from around the world to ogle at the four-wheeled beauties housed in here. Located on a nearly 40-acre property, the Savoy Automobile Museum features four galleries for temporary exhibitions and a fifth gallery for its permanent holdings. Called the Savoy Collection, the permanent collection houses a 1932 Buick Model 67, a 1939 Lincoln Zephyr, a 1955 Willys Bermuda, and a 1967 AMC Marlin, among others. Other rotating exhibitions through 2024 include the evolution of Bigfoot, an automobile that started life as a 1974 Ford F-250 pickup and eventually morphed into other large-size creations; an exhibit on Tatra, a Czech vehicle manufacturer founded in 1850, produced in collaboration with the Lane Motor Museum in Tennessee; and a showcase of TV producer Bryan Fuller's unique custom car and motorcycle builds over 20 years. The one-story Savoy Automobile Museum, which easily accommodates wheelchairs, costs $17 for general admission and $7 for youth. Over the beautiful coast of Monterey County in California, automobile fans gather each year for the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. Since 1950, the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance has been a highlight. It was first a social event associated with the Pebble Beach Road Races, which ended in 1956. Today, it is a flagship event of Pebble Beach Automotive Week. During the event, car collectors gather on the 18th hole of the Pebble Beach Golf Links and vie for the title of Best of Show. Judges critique their vehicles based on elegance, technical merit, and history. Other events and showcases on the grounds include the Pebble Beach Motoring Classic and the Pebble Beach Retroauto. The Pebble Beach Motoring Classic is an annual road trip of about 1,500 miles as proud car owners drive down the Pacific coast to finish at the Concours d'Elegance. Meanwhile, the Pebble Beach Retroauto is a show of collectibles and memorabilia for past auto eras, as well as art and luxury items. Tickets for the event are available months in advance but prices are typically close to $500 and increase closer to the event date. The Martin Auto Museum in Glendale, Arizona, was founded in 2005 by owner Mel Martin, an expert mechanic who can also fix the cars in the collection. 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Museumgoers can view different iterations of Teslas to date, famous cars from film and television like the 1989 Batmobile, and Porsche cars from the 1950s onwards. Admission costs $21 for adults, $19 for seniors, $13 for youth aged 12 to 17, and $12 for youth aged 4 to 11. More experience-oriented travelers who prefer being behind the wheel may consider the Bonneville Salt Flats International Raceway in Tooele County, Utah. The flats formed thousands of years ago when Lake Bonneville covered most of Utah. As the large lake drained, it left the Great Salt Lake by Salt Lake City and the Bonneville Salt Flats behind. The Salt Flats were a hard surface that went on for miles, perfect for racing, according to Autoweek. Vehicles on the flats could reach up to 600 miles per hour. In recent years, however, the salt on the flats has been reduced to a fraction of the thickness it was at its peak. 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Atlantic
26 minutes ago
- Atlantic
When Pete Hegseth's Pentagon Tenure Started Going Sideways
Things were going fine for Pete Hegseth, right up until a chance encounter with the world's richest man. His pursuit of Donald Trump's agenda at the Pentagon had made him a star among the president's advisers. The former Fox News host had moved swiftly to roll back diversity initiatives in the military and to expand U.S. troops' role in halting immigration at the southern border. His willingness to challenge Republican orthodoxy on foreign policy and punch back at critics was seen as an asset as Trump began his second term. But then, in mid-March, Hegseth bumped into Elon Musk in a White House hallway, and extended an ill-fated invitation to the tech titan for an exclusive military briefing. 'Up until then, DOD had been the golden child,' one person familiar with Hegseth's office told us. When Trump learned about the proposed briefing the night before it was scheduled to take place, he was displeased. Although Hegseth denied a New York Time s report that the March 21 meeting would focus on plans for potential war with Beijing, Trump told others that any presentation on China would be inappropriate for Musk, who has extensive business interests there, according to people familiar with the president's reaction. The very idea that top officers would brief the businessman in the Tank—the secure Pentagon conference room where the military brass assembles for visits by the commander in chief—added to an unwelcome perception that Musk wielded outsize government power. In a call hours after the Times story appeared, Trump made clear to Hegseth that the briefing was 'a bad look' for the administration, according to individuals with knowledge of the call. When Hegseth visited the White House the next day to debut the Air Force's newest fighter jet, Trump again conveyed his displeasure. 'This is crazy and stupid,' Trump said of the briefing, one of these people told us. 'Why would we even do this?' Jonathan Lemire: Why Trump is standing by Hegseth, for now Trump reserved most of his ire for Musk and did not express anger toward Hegseth personally, White House officials told us. Yet the Musk episode, and Trump's response to Hegseth, details of which have not been previously reported, represented a turning point for the new Pentagon chief, according to people familiar with his tenure who spoke with us on the condition of anonymity. Since then, a series of embarrassing revelations, including Hegseth's disclosure of military attack plans on the messaging app Signal, have fueled turmoil and suspicion at the Pentagon's highest levels. They have also intensified public scrutiny of Hegseth's judgment and deepened questions about his ability to deliver on the president's military priorities, including pushing back against China and demonstrating American strength, which the president believes was eroded by his predecessor. 'Things were heading in the right direction,' the person familiar with Hegseth's office added. 'But then the leaks and Signalgate just really fucked up Pete.' Hegseth oversees a workforce of more than 3 million, and a budget of close to $1 trillion, without a chief of staff. His shrunken circle of close aides lacks extensive Pentagon experience. Key military commanders are preparing to retire without replacements in sight. Sidelined aides have aired details of unseemly feuds at the department's senior levels, and a series of unflattering media reports have fueled what numerous officials describe as Hegseth's fixation on stopping leaks. White House officials say that Trump continues to support Hegseth—the defense chief's job is '100 percent safe,' one told us. This official also noted that in addition to having Trump's affection, Hegseth is personally liked by both Vice President J. D. Vance and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly told us that the entire administration remains 'fully behind Secretary Hegseth's mission to prioritize our warfighters, eliminate terrorists, and restore common sense at the DOD.' But scores of congressional Democrats have called on Hegseth to resign. One Republican, Representative Don Bacon of Nebraska, has suggested that he be fired. Musk's Pentagon visit originated from a conversation in Musk's sparsely furnished office that followed their impromptu meeting in a White House hallway, when Hegseth suggested that Musk come over to the Pentagon to talk with senior military leaders. The defense chief later authorized the meeting to be held in the Tank. Several people told us that Hegseth's invitation came at a moment when the Defense Department, like other agencies across the government, was facing the prospect of cuts by Musk's Department of Government Efficiency. While Hegseth has touted DOGE's steps to reduce the number of federal contractors and other personnel, DOD was not driving the process. The invitation represented a chance for Pentagon leaders to help steer DOGE's direction in cutting one of the world's largest bureaucracies. (A representative for Musk did not respond to multiple requests for comment.) Tom Nichols: Pete Hegseth's patriotic duty is to resign Just three days after Musk's Pentagon visit, Hegseth's judgment again came into question when Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor in chief of The Atlantic, revealed that he had been added to a high-level Signal chat about plans to bomb Houthi militants in Yemen. Although then–National Security Adviser Michael Waltz had inadvertently invited Goldberg to the thread, it was Hegseth who escalated the exchange by posting details of an imminent attack on Houthi targets, including the precise times when U.S. jets would be flying over their targets in Yemen. Current and former officials have said that such advance attack information would typically be highly classified because of the danger its disclosure could pose to pilots. A cascade of other revelations followed, including stories detailing the unusual role that Hegseth's wife, Jennifer, has played in his work at the Pentagon, where she has attended meetings with foreign officials and issued orders related to her husband's media appearances. News reports also revealed that Hegseth gave his younger brother a senior Pentagon role and authorized the installation of a makeup studio at a cost of thousands of dollars. Current and former officials told us that Hegseth has since threatened to polygraph numerous senior officials, including the acting chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He has also overturned decades of tradition in the military's relationship with the press, ousting media outlets from their long-standing Pentagon workspaces in favor of Trump-friendly voices and ending reporters' access to most of the building. When The Atlantic interviewed Trump in the Oval Office in late April, the president said he'd had 'a talk' with Hegseth about the various embarrassing reports, predicting, 'I think he's gonna get it together.' Yet the Musk and Signal episodes reveal what some individuals familiar with Hegseth's tenure described to us as his tendency to use his position heading the world's most advanced military as a 'flex.' He attempts to impress others with his access to sensitive information and his power to direct American forces, even if it means a little indiscretion along the way, they said. 'He's got this $180,000 Ferrari. That's the Pentagon for him,' another person familiar with Hegseth's office told us. 'And he likes to show it off.' Hegseth created further controversy after he elevated Ricky Buria, a Marine who'd been serving as a military aide when Hegseth took office, to a senior role and sought to name him as chief of staff. Buria often made demands of more senior officers, and his sudden promotion to a senior political position rubbed many in the rank-conscious military the wrong way. Trump personally blocked Buria from the chief-of-staff job because of his ties to Lloyd Austin, Joe Biden's Pentagon chief, White House officials told us. People familiar with Pentagon staffing told us that the White House had explored hiring at least four replacements for Joe Kasper, who had abruptly left the chief-of-staff job in April to take a new role in the department, but that none had worked out. The chief Pentagon spokesperson, Sean Parnell, said in a statement that personnel changes are a 'natural and necessary feature of any highly effective organization.' 'Americans outside the beltway don't care about 'palace intrigue' or sensationalized mainstream media gossip,' Parnell said. 'They care about action.' In response to suggestions from the White House, the Pentagon has in recent weeks begun to slowly expand its media engagement beyond MAGA-friendly outlets, taking reporters from several mainstream print-news organizations on Hegseth's travels to Latin America and Asia. Kingsley Wilson, Hegseth's Pentagon press secretary, told us that Hegseth's travels have involved bringing along journalists from 'a wide range of outlets.' Hegseth, however, has stuck to a rote playbook in responding to unfavorable news: attempt to discredit the media, then pivot to his efforts to rebuild the military and restore the 'warrior ethos' he says was lost under Democratic leaders. 'This is what the media does,' he told reporters during a family Easter event at the White House, children in party attire looking on from behind. He gestured at the journalists assembled before him, calling them 'hoaxsters.' 'They try to slash and burn people and ruin their reputations. It's not going to work with me.' Jason Dempsey: Hegseth has all the wrong enemies Trump has stood by his Pentagon chief, suggesting that he admires the combative approach Hegseth takes in attacking administration detractors. He is a 'tough cookie' who 'went through a lot,' the president said late last month. Trump also spent significant political capital pushing through Hegseth's nomination—Vance had to cast the tiebreaking vote after the Senate deadlocked on confirmation at 50–50—and is reluctant to abandon him now, especially because it might look like giving the media a scalp. That support will be tested next week, when Hegseth begins a series of hearings on Capitol Hill convened to address the administration's budget requests. Hegseth is sure to face difficult questions from Democrats, including on his handling of sensitive information, the upheaval in the Pentagon's upper ranks, and his firing of senior military officials. Those officers include the second-ever Black chairman of the Joint Chiefs and the first female Navy chief, both of whom Hegseth previously suggested were promoted because of their race and gender, respectively. Top Republicans, meanwhile, are unhappy with an administration spending proposal that they say doesn't include enough money for defense. Many at the Pentagon question how long the president's backing for their boss will last. During his first term, Trump cycled through four defense secretaries and four national security advisers. He also voiced support for Waltz until the former national security adviser was pushed aside last month and asked to take a less powerful role, at the United Nations. Although the president appears to appreciate Hegseth's pugnacious public style, he may require more from his defense secretary over time, as the administration faces pressure to deliver on a set of complex and interlocking goals, including fixing a byzantine military-procurement system, reviving a diminished defense industry, and strengthening America's response to China's military rise. Fighters endear themselves to Trump, one person told us, 'but you can't have a one-dimensional game. At a certain point, it's going to get old.'
Yahoo
34 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Damola Adamolekun Breathes Life Into Red Lobster And Its Throwback Menu
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