Suggested Citation:
Lieberman, Joey, Scott Hardman, Sina Nordhoff (2026)

Brief: Understanding Electric Vehicle Purchase Decisions in the United States: A Qualitative Study

. Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California, Davis, Brief UCD-ITS-RR-26-39

Abstract:

This research brief explores factors influencing consumers decision to buy an electric vehicle (EV). The brief also explores what areas of the EV ecosystem EV owners think need improvement. Results come from interviews conducted with EV owners across the US. Following the interviews transcripts were thematically coded to extract common themes. Overall, we find consumers decisions to purchase an EV are influenced by functional or economic factors, such as refueling cost or purchase price. Emotional factors in the form of environmentalism played a role, but less so than previous studies. Desired improvements to EVs were mostly related to charging infrastructure, including improvements to infrastructure availability, charging speed, reliability, and other issues. Improvements to driving range were also desired.