Survey highlights support behind clean transportation in California

June 27, 2014 0 By Tami Hood

Clean transportation report

Survey identifies where the support for electric vehicles is coming from in California

The California Air Resource Board has released the results of one of its latest electric vehicle surveys. The survey draws upon information provided by those that have purchased electric and hybrid vehicles within the past two years, highlighting the reasons behind these purchases. California is currently the most active clean transportation market in the U.S. More electric vehicles are sold in California than all other states combined, so understanding the reason people are purchasing these vehicles may be vital to helping the clean transportation space grow.

State rebates provide major incentive to purchase electric and hybrid vehicles

According to the survey, rebates and subsidies offered by the state government were the most influential factor when people considered purchasing clean vehicles. California offers rebates to those purchasing these vehicles, leveraging these rebates as a way to reduce the financial impact of clean transportation. Federal tax incentives have also gone a long way in promoting electric vehicles among consumers, further improving the attractiveness of electric vehicles.

Various factors are affecting the cost of electric vehicles

While infrastructure support and leasing options have also influenced consumer purchases, the cost of electric vehicles is the primary issue that the auto industry may need to focus on. In most cases, electric vehicles are more expensive than their conventional counterparts. This is because battery technology and fuel cells are quite expensive in and of themselves. The high costs of these technologies directly affects the ultimate cost of clean vehicles. Automakers are also investing in developing infrastructure support for their clean vehicles, which is turning out to be an expensive endeavor. These costs also affect the price of new vehicles.

Majority of consumers favor economic benefits of clean transportation rather than its environmental benefits

The survey suggests that consumers are more concerned with the economic benefits of clean transportation rather than the environmental benefits. While 21% of the survey’s respondents said they favored electric vehicles because of their environmentally friendly nature, 37% said they would enjoy money they would save in fuel costs the most.

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