Most Americans are still not persuaded to buy electric cars despite the federal government’s multi-billion dollar push to promote the vehicles.
A majority 54% of American adults think electric cars are not practical, compared to 28% who say they are practical for most drivers, found the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey.
Broken down by party affiliation, 66% of Republicans, 46% of Democrats and 51% of unaffiliated voters said electric cars are not practical.
The Department of Transportation intends to spend almost $5 billion over five years to help states create a network of electric vehicle charging stations.
Meanwhile, a whopping 69% of Americans think most cars will likely still run mostly on gasoline a decade from now, including 37% who say it’s “very likely” that gasoline-powered vehicles will still be the norm in 10 years, according to the survey.
Just 23% think that it is unlikely that most cars will still be powered by gasoline in 2032.
The numbers, which are similar to what the same pollsters found in March, come at a time when California moved forward with plans to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035. Several other Democrat-run states are expected to follow California’s lead.
The regulation on new gas-powered vehicles does not apply to used cars or prohibit using current gas-powered cars.
In Virginia, which by law adopts California fuel-efficiency standards, Gov. Glenn Youngkin has vowed to fight the rule agreed to by his Democratic predecessor.
The Rasmussen survey of 1,000 adults was conducted on August 17-18. The margin of error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.