Consumer Interest In Electric Vehicles Grows

Thomas Gillespie was so excited to get his new Rivian electric truck he traveled from his home in Maryland to pick it up at the Illinois factory himself. "They were like, 'Mr. Gillespie your truck's out front'. And I went bounding out the front door like an overexcited 12-year-old," Gillespie said.

In a recent survey from AAA, 25% of Americans said they would be likely to buy an electric vehicle as their next auto purchase, in part, to save on fuel costs.

"I figured it out, at the end of the day it cost me $1.19 in electricity to do all of my daily driving," Gillespie said. According to Gillespie, he used to spend around $25 a day for gas in his old truck.

Automakers are making the move to e-powered vehicles and are offering more choices than ever. "What we see now is they're actually building things that people want, like crossovers and pickup trucks," says Greg Brannon, the director of automotive engineering at AAA.

Chevrolet recently introduced its all-electric Blazer, with plans for more EV models next year. "The intention and where we're pricing this product is to certainly make it more available for more mainstream buyers," says Steve Majoros, Chevrolet's marketing director.

While those increased options are appealing, Americans are still hesitant to take their foot off the gas entirely.

"The hesitation comes really in two main forms: one is around range anxiety, the other one comes at worrying about the long-term reliability and costs of owning an EV," Brannon says.

General Motors launched an interactive website to help educate consumers about electric vehicles.

"It really isn't the lifestyle change that people think it's going to be." Gillespie says making the switch to e-power was easy and he has no plans to return to gas-powered vehicles.

The Infrastructure Act includes $7.5 billion dollars to build out a nationwide EV charging network. And the Inflation Reduction Act, which was recently signed into law, includes tax credits for Americans who buy electric vehicles as well as the manufacturers who make them.