electric vehicle buyers younger than those buying a hybrid

Interesting data!
I wonder what the average age and income was of hybrid buyers back in 2003-2005?

While I agree the number of younger drivers being attracted to the high end electrics, I suspect early adopters that had been buying the hybrids 10 years ago are now shifting to electrics.

 

Experian were also the ones who published the hybrid ownership by each state back in 2012 or so...that type of data is hard to come by. I would love to see what states are buying the hybrid and plug-ins, and where VA stands now. Alls you can easily get is CA data by CNCDA.org see the California Auto Outlook (CA is 44% of Plug-ins in 2013).

>>My personal theory is the Plug_ins sales are predominated by states with large $$+HOV incentives, so that may take away some age demographics that exist in a more general market.

 

Seems there was a posting snafu with 3 threads

edit: and it appears fixed while a I posted.

 

I bought my first hybrid when I was 28. I bought my second when I was 30. I would have bought sooner and would consider an EV, but the entire factor that influences my decisions is price/budget. For me, a hybrid means lower cost of ownership. I bought both used, though. I cannot justify paying for a new vehicle currently. I bought my 2009 Civic hybrid for $12,950 and bought my 2010 Prius IV for $16,400. Add the cost of gas and maintenance over the cost of a conventional car and the math just favors a used hybrid in my budget. After a few years, I will take a look at a used gen 4 Prius and if the cost is reasonable and resale still strong on my 2010, I may consider trading.

 

Electric-Car Buyers Younger And Richer Than Hybrid Owners; and Prettier than hybrid owners! Give me a break!

 

Age 56 average hybrid owner would be in the "younger" bracket ten years ago.

I thought about an EV but the lack of Tesla superchargers and rapid chargers (ChaDemo) was a turnoff. Last week I went to Death Valley and the EV would have left me stranded. PlugShare shows no rapid chargers for 200 mile radius.

$70,000 is a turnoff too. ;-)

 

Prius is great for leaving town, the Leaf is great for putzing around town. 3500 pure EV miles so far.

I'd make the same comparison that was made when hybrids were first coming out. Usually those that are wealthy from working are smart people. They see where things are going and bought hybrids and now electrics. Once they become more commonplace, then the commoner will start seeing the advantage.

We got asked by a very friendly younger guy the other day when filling up the RX450h if the "hybrid" badge meant it ran on "the corn fuel". After explaining it is a petrol-electric hybrid, "you know, like the Prius" he understood. Thought it was cool looking and all that. But the simple fact is that people just don't understand hybrids yet let alone pure EV's. And the sad part is all the FUD coming from people and media.

 

Many people still think a Prius is an EV.

 

I remember the study folks said hybrid owners in that era were not only older (closer to 50) but we brought down more bucks per year:

so yea ... older ... more bucks ... and generally:

Profile of Hybrid Drivers - HybridCars.com

You're right of course ... since such a HUGE contingent of US drivers continually drive out to Death Valley several times a year ... and once we get there we turn right around, and thus L2 charging would never do ... we should all avoid EV's. So yea ... since there are no super chargers in death valley, that must necessarily mean the rest of the populated world is void 0f QC's.

Any yet, strangely I find myself in the Nashville/central TN area this week, and plug share shows more than a couple dozen around. Back in our usual area, I can't hardly count all of 'em easily - just have a look across San Diego/OC/LA/Ventura counties:



I suppose I could just enjoy EV driving for the usual 95%+ of my driving - then just rent a car for the tons & tons of trips I take to death valley .... nah ... I'm gona wait until the QC's outnumber people there .... all 100 of 'em (joking). I'll bet there are no QC's at the north pole too, or the middle of the Australian outback ... so forget about it.
ok I'm done being wacky.
Being serious now Troy, your avatar doesn't show where you normally hale from, but the serious point is/was that most (if you check out the EV boards) don't use QC's for regular driving anyway ... because most who buy 100mile or less EV's typically drive a regular commute for 20-50 miles - turning of whether they can charge @ work. Yes, it's old news, but no transportation vehicle works for all people all the time. So it's ok for you to not want to own one ... but Death valley being void of DC QC's hardly means the majority of folks experience the same thing.
btw, there ARE actually 3 or 4 L2 EVSE's across Death valley - but like the lion's share of the US population, most drivers have little desire to go Death Valley to charge an EV, or camp or hike or whatever (went once maybe 30 years ago) ... and I'll bet that's why there are no QC's there. More power to all those who do like going there regularly though.

Just sayin' ... you invest infrastructure where the people are. We have T-Mobile. In Montana, there IS no such thing as T-Mobile. But being the pioneer spirit - somehow we manage to get up to Glacier 1 or 2x a year or we go boating on the Flathead lake, and manage to make it back ... no T-Mobile ... no QC's and for that matter, only a half dozen L2's in the entire state ... 4th largest that it is. Pioneer spirit ... we find a way to make it work.
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Strawman argument.
I specifically said *I* was turned-off due to lack of fast chargers in eastern part of California near Nevada. (Also Northern California along US101... no going to see the redwoods in an electric.)

I never said a Tesla wouldn't work for other people. Stop beating on that strawman. In fact I recommend city residents say no to the Prius and buy an EV instead. I know several people who never drive their car further than LA and the valley.

 

ok ... so the OP is about EV buyers ... and you want to post that EV's can't work for you ... won't work for you ... either around Death Valley or the redwoods (btw ... as to redwoods - between the several L2 EVSE's and 240v campgrounds - there are about a dozen spots you can pick up a charge ... but I'd hate to hear I'm raising a straw man ... which normally means it's a topic I was bringing up, rather than responding to). Lots of people like to talk about how they LOVE fried okra ... or 2 story homes ... or what ever. We already know some folks don't. The nay sayers can give lots of reasons too, why they don't ... why they won't ... why they can't. But we already know they have their reasons. You can either celebrate with those that do like their stuff ... or you can run it up the flagpole how you don't. Great. To each his/her own & what ever works for you. I will celebrate with all those who can't as well as those who can.

Just encouraged a co-worker to buy a plug-in (they went for the C-max over the PiP due to EV range). Best of both worlds in that you can charge, or you can forgo. You do have to pony up more for the benefit. My co-worker is far from well to do ... but the inheritance he just came into made it do-able, without the normally higher income.
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What, exactly, do you mean by stranded? You would have been stuck there until a tow truck came by?
Or, due to your own poor planning, you would have had to wait a few hours while you charged.
Isn't this like saying if you drove a regular car to the sand dunes instead of a dune buggy you would have gotten stuck and needed a tow truck or a winch to get you out?

Mike

 

Lots of stats in the article, but not clear what each of them means. Although they specify new cars in the "vehicle loan" chart, in other places, it's unclear whether/when used cars are included. Since hybrids have been around in quantity for longer, you'd expect to find more of them on the used market -- and thus more of them purchased by younger and less affluent people. Another factor: urban and apartment dwellers are less likely to have a place to plug in at home - that's going to shift the buying demographic substantially, especially as younger professionals continue to flock to urban living. Then of course there's the issue others have brought up re: driving range. Families with two cars can more easily designate one for shorter trips; singles with only one car may be less likely to accept that limitation.

The article seems to start out with the premise "Gee, you'd have thought the two groups of buyers would be about the same, wouldn't you?" But I wouldn't really have thought so...

 

I'm not sure why "younger people", and in this context we probably mean 25-45 would be more likely to buy a used hybrid than a new one.

Yes according to the latest plug in survey in california, 90% live in single family detached homes, and 6% more live in attached homes and condos, leaving only 4% in apartments. I would assume that you are more affluent if you are in a home, even if you are renting. I don't know why urban home dwellers wouldn't have a plug, many appartments have at least 110 available

IMHO we should not really separate the PHEV from the bev in analysis like this, and phevs (volt, prius phv, fussion energi, c-max energi, i3, i8, etc) don't really have any driving limitations. They can pull into plugs or gas stations. It is unclear from the experian short report whether the phevs were lumped with the other plug-ins without a gasoline option, but they should not be. Given the initial adopter aspect, I would expect the age demographics to skew much younger than hybrids which they do. Given the high percentage of tesla S in the plug-in sample, and the higher home ownership of course the demographics will skew more affluent. In fact if you are more affluent and own a home, why would you choose a hybrid over a plug in, if the reason for purchase is less oil use or more tech?
+1

 

Interesting. As someone who seems to meet the criteria for electric buyers, except for my age, I bought he prius over a pure electric BECAUSE of my age. A little older, a little wiser, a little more frugal. Living in Atlanta, an all electric would have me constantly paranoid of running out of juice.

 

+1

That makes perfect sense, since the plug-in buyers are initial adopters, and initial adopters drop off quickly after 65 yo (although there are still many, they are a lower percentage than other age groups), age will be a contra-indicated. Atlanta would seem to be a great city for a plug in though, and it is one of the best selling cities.

 

The thing I run into with some older buyers is how their assumptions cloud judgment. They believe they have all the information needed to make a decision. Being unaware of what's actually available is a very big challenge to overcome still.

Today at the barber shop was a great example. The barber's mom-in-law was there chatting with the people waiting to get their hair cut. The topic started with flat tires (it's pothole season, after all), then became a discussion about cargo you could carry inside, since spares aren't always included anymore. I mentioned mine didn't; instead, there was a battery-pack. The woman immediately chimed in about "not being comfortable in one of those cars". That got my attention. I asked for clarification. She said she had looked at "one of those" and didn't want any part of them. Baffled by her lack of clarity, I asked about seating space. She made some obscure reference about being small... which made no sense, since I knew her vehicle was a PT Cruiser... not a large vehicle which she had inferred owning. Then, the topic was abruptly changed.

She had made up her mind, believing her stance was based on complete up-to-date facts. She was wrong, but not having an effective way to point that out without embarrassment or disrespect is a very real problem.

Younger buyers don't have an extensive past to leverage upon and have grown up in an age where improvement was continuous & often. So, most automatically seek out information. That's a big difference with older buyers.

Assumption issues are a barrier to accepting high-efficiency vehicle choices. How do we deal with that?

 

I do see a lot of Leafs around but have only seen 1 volt. I find that surprising as no one lives IN Atlanta. If you do, chances are you're either driving a Jag or taking the bus. Everyone commutes. Both owners of our company commute about 40 miles one way. My last job was 28 miles one way. Both ways with the A/C on in the spring and summer, the stereo on and 2+ hrs of commute in and back home. I'd be sweating and hoping I could coast into the driveway at night in an all electric vehicle. If I lived where I could do the "park and ride" thing where you drive to the train station and park it would be ideal but Atlanta has retched mass transit. This city is just not built for it.

 

That is sort of an unwieldy range. But as "new car" these days increasingly means "luxury item for the financially solid," I suspect you'd still see a larger proportion of used car purchases by under 35-ers.

Hmm, maybe this is regional - I haven't seen too many plugs accessible to the parking in apartment complexes in either LA or San Diego. Another interesting thing that may or may not apply more widely: both LA and San Diego have sizable older areas with fairly pricey single family homes built before World War II. These houses don't have a garage; they tend to have small front lawns into which a few have jiggered in some sort of driveway. The rest just park on the street. So, there's another slew of urban dwellers who would have trouble plugging in the car. And then there's people in eastern/Midwestern cities who live in row houses. Hmm, I would really think it would be uncommon to find a home in a city with an outlet for the car.

One reason I can think of is commuting practicalities. Let's say you own a home, but like many people, you bought one in the suburbs. So now you have a long commute to work. If you're looking at EV's and plugin-hybrids's, you keep seeing those battery ranges and thinking, "Well I can only go so and so far on battery power, so what's the point?" With plug-in hybrids of course the car can also drive you to work on gas, but when you see the price numbers and that the battery that can only take you 10 miles or whatever... it's a hard sell at best.