Out of juice: Only 5% of US car buyers want an electric vehicle

Electric vehicles and the American driver: a match made in heaven. At least, that’s the story Democrats have been telling for a while.

In reality, sparks are definitely not flying.

Deloitte suspects that some of this push against EVs ‘could be due, in part, to lingering affordability concerns.’

In fact, only 5% of U.S. consumers want their next car to be an EV, according to a new survey from Deloitte — with almost two-thirds explicitly stating their preference for an internal combustion engine (ICE).

The consulting company gathered data from more than 31,000 people across 30 countries as part of its 2025 Global Automotive Consumer Study. It makes for some interesting comparisons — especially when it comes to powertrains, connectivity, and artificial intelligence.

Among U.S. consumers, ICE remains number one, with 62% indicating that their next car will not be electrified. Another 20% would like a hybrid for their next vehicle, with a further 6% desiring a plug-in hybrid.

By contrast, only 38% of Chinese consumers want to stick with ICE; meanwhile, 27% of them intend for their next automotive purchase to be a battery electric vehicle (BEV). That’s a much higher percentage than in other large nations — in Germany, only 14% want a BEV; in the U.K. and Canada, only 8%; and in Japan, the number is a mere 3%.

Meanwhile, hybrids are far more attractive to consumers in most countries. Sixteen percent of Chinese consumers want hybrids, 12% of Germans, 23% of Canadians, 24% of U.K. consumers, and 35% of Japanese consumers replied that they were looking for a hybrid for their next car.

Deloitte suspects that some of this push against EVs “could be due, in part, to lingering affordability concerns.” U.S. consumers said they did not want to pay more than $35,000 for their next car.

Interestingly, the price of an EV was not a major sticking point for Chinese or Korean consumers. Cold-weather performance (including temperature-related range reduction) ranked higher, with 37% of Chinese consumers and 38% of Korean consumers considering it an issue.

Range also proved important to American consumers surveyed. Forty-nine percent said it concerned them, while 46% worried about charging times. U.K. drivers were slightly more concerned about range (52%) than price, with similar results in Germany (54% range).

Deloitte also surveyed consumers about their reasons for wanting or not wanting an EV.

In the U.S., saving money on fuel costs came in at number one. A common reason cited for avoiding an EV was concern over the state of the public charging infrastructure.