EV Buyers Are Younger, More Affluent: Study

A recent study has revealed that those customers adopting EVs tend to be young and wealthy.

According to TrueCar.com, the average electric vehicle shopper is younger and richer than their gas-buying counterpart. The company conducted a study that analyzed electric vehicle buyers and found that the average Ford Focus EV owner is 43 years old and has an annual household income of $199,000. That’s a sharp contrast compared to the gas-power Ford Focus owner, who was 46 years old with an average household income of $77,000. The same goes for the Fiat 500 and its electric variant, with standard 500 buyers averaging 47 years of age and $73,000 annual household income, while 500e owners are usually 45 years old with an annual household income of $145,000.

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That doesn’t mean those shoppers are spending recklessly. TrueCar also found that those EV shoppers are more likely to look for a bargain with 82 percent of Focus EV buyers purchasing their vehicles because of a good deal that included government and state incentives. Those figures also contrast conventional buyers, where half said they purchased a gasoline Focus because it was a good deal. As for the Fiat 500, 52 percent were enticed by a deal on a standard 500 while 500e buyers saw 67 percent admitting they purchased their vehicle because it was a bargain.

This doesn’t mean that electric vehicles are leaving dealership lots at a rapid pace. Ford only sold 124 Focus EVs last month, out of 18,100 Focus cars overall.

“These are really affluent folks,” said John Krafcik, TrueCar President in an interview with USA Today. And one of the ways they got that way was by searching for bargains. “It’s their psyche.”

[Source: USA Today]

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