More Than 71% Of Southern Californians Are “Highly Interested” In Switching To EVs, According To New Survey

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More than 71% of those recently surveyed in Southern California about electric vehicles (EVs) are “highly interested” in switching to an EV, according to a recent press release.

The recent survey — conducted by NRG EVgo — saw hundreds of people, in 5 different locations, queried about their opinions concerning EV ownership, and the reasons for not having embraced EVs yet (presuming they haven’t). The 5 locations in question were spread across San Diego, Los Angeles, and Orange County. The surveys took place between the months of May and July of this year, and altogether involved over 500 participants answering a set of 10 common questions.

Nissan LEAF

To go over the results in greater detail here, while 71% of the Southern Californians queried stated that they were highly interested in getting an EV, an additional 13% apparently already had one. Not a shabby percentage, all things considered (and a reflection of the relative wealth of those queried, I assume). Only 16% of those asked were not interested in EVs, according to the results.

A recent email to CleanTechnica offers further details:

More than a quarter of the respondents cited that the perceived cost of purchasing an EV as the primary barrier to making the switch. Another 15% reported that the limited number of charging stations available as well as the perceived distance limitations of EVs as their primary factors for not switching. The lack of basic awareness of EVs and how they work was another barrier cited, with some 7% of the respondents choosing this reason.

These barriers are likely even more acute for SoCal residents living in apartment communities or other multi-tenant complexes. In fact, 57% of the EVgo survey respondents said that they lived either in an apartment or in a condominium. Across California, there were more than 6 million apartment renters as of 2013, according to the National Multifamily Housing Council.


 

“Unfortunately, there is one very important location many Californian renters are still not likely to find an EV charging station: their own homes,” stated Terry O’Day, Vice President at NRG EVgo. “This fact threatens to leave many of these citizens unable to take advantage of the numerous cost and environmental benefits of EV ownership, even as EV manufacturers make more and more models available each year.”

This reality may be changing to some degree, though, with Assembly Bill 2565 recently going into effect as law. It requires apartment managers to approve EV charging station installation requests, so long as the tenants involved are willing to pay for the related costs.

NRG EVgo recently launched a new program, known as “Take Charge CA,” with the intent of providing funding + technical expertise to those looking to have charging stations installed at their apartments. This is such an important step for the EV revolution, so it’s nice to see NRG taking the initiative.

Image Credit: Nissan


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James Ayre

James Ayre's background is predominantly in geopolitics and history, but he has an obsessive interest in pretty much everything. After an early life spent in the Imperial Free City of Dortmund, James followed the river Ruhr to Cofbuokheim, where he attended the University of Astnide. And where he also briefly considered entering the coal mining business. He currently writes for a living, on a broad variety of subjects, ranging from science, to politics, to military history, to renewable energy.

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