An intriguing study has found that it’s difficult to keep EV owners exclusively committed to electric vehicles. Indeed, with the exception of Tesla owners, almost half of EV-owning households will purchase an internal combustion vehicle next.
A study from S&P Global Mobility reveals that the fuel type loyalty rate for mainstream brand EV households was sitting at 52.1% through July this year. While some may consider that sobering news, the study notes that its data doesn’t mean that roughly half of EVs are going to be replaced by a combustion vehicle. Instead, a household’s next purchase could be a replacement for a different vehicle they already have.
The study found that 63.2% of those who own a Nissan EV will purchase another EV as their next vehicle. This placed the Japanese carmaker just ahead of Chevrolet which scored a loyalty rate of 60.6%. When looking at individual models, S&P Global Mobility found that 37.3% of Ford Mustang Mach-E households purchased an EV as their next vehicle, while 45.8% went with something that had a gas engine, many of which were other Ford truck and SUV models with ICE and hybrid powertrains.
Data also reveals that 60.7% of Chevrolet Bolt owners jump into another EV as their next car and those didn’t typically opt for a Chevrolet SUV or truck. EV loyalty rates among luxury vehicle buyers have jumped significantly over the past three years, nearing or sometimes even eclipsing the 60% mark.
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For example, 56.6% of Mercedes-Benz EV buyers will buy another EV as their next vehicle, a massive increase from 24.3% in Q2 2020. EV loyalty rates at Jaguar have also jumped from 25% to 56.5% while Audi is up from 25.5% to 50.1%, Porsche has gone from 23.3% to 36.8%, and market-leader Tesla has increased from 51.8% to 76.7%. Interestingly, EV loyalty among BMW EV owners has dropped from 46.6% to 45.9%.
“The OEMs are spending huge amounts of money to develop EVs,” associate director for loyalty solutions and industry analysis at S&P Global Mobility, Tom Libby said. “So the last thing they want is for an EV owner to go back to ICE.”
