New polling by Gallup shows that Americans are less interested in buying and owning electric vehicles than in 2023. While consumer interest in EVs has waned, interest in hybrids exceeds EVs.
The Gallup polling was conducted March 3 through March 16, which Gallup notes coincided “with mounting protests and acts of vandalism against Tesla electric vehicle products and facilities.” One example close to home is the Tesla Cybertruck that was keyed by a North Dakota man at the end of March in West Fargo.
The groups with the highest affinity for electric vehicles in 2023 — “Democrats, liberals, young adults, college graduates, and residents of the West” — are the ones seeing the biggest declines. However, Gallup notes that these groups are still the most likely to be current owners or prospective EV buyers. Gallup also says that “Americans’ modestly reduced interest in ever owning an electric vehicle predates the recent publicity challenges facing Tesla.”
In 2023, 59 percent of U.S. adults own or would consider buying an EV in the future. In 2024 and 2025, only 51 percent of U.S. adults would, or a decline of 8 percentage points. The number of Americans that already own or are “seriously considering” an EV dropped from 16 percent in 2024 to 11 percent in 2025.
Americans age 18 through 34 saw a decline in their willingness to consider purchasing an EV of 11 percentage points, and college graduates declined by the same margins. Democrats and Independents both saw statistically significant declines in interest in EVs, with Democrats falling 11 percentage points. (Notably, Republicans showed only “a slight increase in enthusiasm for EVs” that Gallup did not find statistically significant).
Gallup writes that “Hybrid vehicles pull Republicans into the Electric Car Market,” with the polling showing that:
Affinity for hybrids over EVs is particularly elevated among Republicans (24 percentage points higher, at 55%) and conservatives (19 points higher, at 51%). This puts these groups closer to the national average for interest in hybrid vehicles compared with their interest in EVs.
Hybrid also seem more affordable than EVs for middle and upper-income Americans, though hybrids and EVs seem equally unattainable for low-income Americans:
By contrast, differences by income are wider for hybrid vehicles than for EVs, the result of middle- and upper-income Americans showing significantly more interest in hybrids than they do in EVs. Seventy-four percent of Americans earning $100,000 or more in annual household income say they own or might like to own a hybrid vehicle, compared with 56% who say the same about EVs. Similarly, 72% of those earning between $50,000 and $99,999 a year indicate a desire to own hybrid cars, versus 53% for electric. Meanwhile, just under half of Americans earning less than $50,000 are interested in either electric vehicles (47%) or hybrids (48%).
It isn’t a surprise that hybrids are more interesting to consumers because they largely alleviate concerns about range and cold weather. Whether 2025’s decline in interest truly reflect “mounting concerns about EVs,” or whether these issues are “also compounded by political controversies” is hard to say.