November 14th, 2022, Lesley Simeon
With a $49,795 starting price tag - up by $7100 from the previous year’s model - the 2023 Kia EV6 is the latest EV to embrace a significant price hike. Earlier in August 2022, Ford announced that its electric truck would cost dearer by $7,000 and its 2023 Mustang Mach-E, by nearly $8,000.
Similarly, Tesla vehicles have gotten pricier by 19.2% on an average and Rivian introduced an 18% and 21% price hike on its electric pickup and SUV offering respectively. But the trend isn’t without its exceptions – GM said it would make its electric Chevrolet Bolt cheaper by $6,000 and offer the Chevy Equinox EV at $30,000. Carmakers have blamed elevated raw-material costs, rising inflation levels and high fuel costs for the EV price hikes.
But how much are consumers willing to shell out on new EV purchases?
According to YouGov Profiles - which covers demographic, psychographic, attitudinal and behavioral consumer metrics – only 6% of the respondents who might buy a new EV in the next 12 months expect to spend $60,000 to $70,000 on a new car and a slightly lesser number of them (5%) would spend $70,000 to $80,000.
21% of Americans who expect to buy a new car in the coming 12 months and would consider an electric engine with it, expect to spend less than $20,000 towards the new car purchase. 18% of them would spend anywhere between $30,001 and $40,000.
Profiles data shows that among consumers who intend to buy a new car in the next 12 months, 26% of them would not consider an EV because of the high initial cost. Among other factors discouraging car buyers from going electric are charging time (21%) and insufficient charging stations (21%).
Price is clearly on the mind of car buyers – even those who would consider opting for an electric engine with their new car. By attaching heavier price tags to their electric models, carmakers may end up with smaller target audiences to pitch their EVs to.
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Methodology: YouGov Profiles is based on continuously collected data and rolling surveys, rather than from a single limited questionnaire. Profiles data for the US is nationally representative and weighted by age, gender, education, region, and race. Learn more about Profiles.