US car shoppers are more interested in electric vehicles than ever before, but the majority agree that there's one major thing holding them back: the sticker price. 

In its 2023 Global Automotive Consumer Study, Deloitte found that US consumers' intent to purchase an electrified vehicle was up nine percent year over year, while just 62 percent of US buyers planned to purchase a traditional gas-powered car, down from 68 percent a year prior. 

But when considering an all-electric battery-powered vehicle, 52 percent of US respondents said they were worried the price was too high - the biggest concern among US consumers, followed by driving range and charging time. 

Three quarters of US consumers want to spend less than $50k on their next vehicle, Deloitte said, but that particular threshold for pricing may not matter all that much - Ford, Kia, Hyundai and even Tesla offer electric vehicles priced under that limit.

Environmentalism second, pocketbook first

Lest you think potential electric vehicle buyers in the US are all granola-chomping tree huggers, climate change is a distant third in the reason Americans are considering an EV for their next car. 

Instead, the top priority for US consumers, and those in all but one of the other 23 nations Deloitte surveyed for the study, is reducing the impact of rising gas prices. 

"Although historically high transaction prices are a significant challenge for consumers, a strong desire to reduce refueling costs is driving EV purchase intent around the world," said Deloitte Vice Chair and US Automotive Lead Karen Bowman. 

Deloitte broke its study down into seven geographical groups: China, German, India, Japan, South Korea, the US and a mixed "Southeast Asia" region. Only Chinese respondents cited something other than fuel costs as their top reason for buying an EV - they're more concerned with getting a better driving experience, Deloitte found.

Germans were the most concerned about climate change, but still only rated it as a second-tier concern to lowering their personal cost of driving by eliminating fossil fuels.

Consumers say no to vehicle subscription services

Along with learning about vehicle purchase trends, Deloitte also found pretty solid evidence that consumers around the world want little to do with connected vehicle services that require a subscription. 

In Japan, where support for subscription vehicle features was highest, it was still at just 21 percent of buyers. The other two choices Deloitte gave respondents were upfront costs, or services that are pay-per-use, both of which garnered far more support. 

Among US respondents, 46 percent said they would rather pay for connected services up front, while 33 percent said they would prefer a pay-per-use model. China was where most consumers would prefer to buy a connected service up front, while the majority of South Koreans said they'd prefer to pay for connected services as they're used. ®

https://www.theregister.com//2023/01/05/ev_deloitte_price/