FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Poll: Michigan is Not Buying into the Electric Vehicle Push

23 April 2024

Only 5% of voters say they will definitely buy an EV in next 5 years

Contact: Tom Shields, Mobile: 517-449-9810, toms@mrgmi.com,

Jenell Leonard, Mobile: 765-210-7971, jleonard@mrgmi.com

LANSING, Mich. – Despite a push by the auto industry and rebates from federal and state and federal governments, electric vehicles have yet to win the hearts and minds of voters across the state. Whether it’s price, technology woes, or a mix of the two, results from MRG’s Michigan Poll® Spring 2024 show that only 5% of Michigan voters plan to purchase an electric vehicle (EV) in the next 5 years. Another 15% of voters said they are considering it.

“It appears that government and the auto industry are out of sync with Michigan consumers,” said Tom Shields, Senior Advisor, MRG LLC. “The state has a long road ahead to reach Governor Whitmer’s goal of 2 million electric vehicles on the roads by 2030.”

Hybrids 3X more popular than EVs

Only 1% of voters reported currently owning an EV with another 6% owning a hybrid vehicle and 1% saying they own both. There appears to be a direct correlation to income as 54% are from households earning over $100,000 per year. Of the 8% of Michigan voters that own either vehicle, 41% are Democrats, 33% are Republicans, and 22% are Independents. 63% of electric or hybrid vehicle owners were male. Those most likely to own an EV or hybrid vehicle lived in the Mid-Michigan area (19%). A total of 92% of Michigan voters said that they did not own an electric vehicle or a hybrid.

Partisanship, age, and location could play a role in future EV purchases

Auto dealers may want to use a voter list to target future EV buyers as only 1% of Republicans say they will definitely be purchasing an EV in the next 5 years. Another 4% said they would consider it. In contrast, 24% of Democrats said they would consider buying an EV in the next 5 years, but only 5% of Democrats said they would definitely be buying one. Oakland County voters (26%) were the most likely to consider an EV purchase in the next 5 years and voters in the UP (10%), Northern Michigan (9%) and the Bay City/Flint Area (4%) were the least likely. Twenty-three percent of 18-24 year olds said they were planning to purchase an electric vehicle over the next five years - the highest result from the age demographic.

“Michigan has proven to be a tough environment for electric vehicle purchases,” said Jenell Leonard, owner of MRG, LLC. “There are a multitude of factors that influence their less-than-popular reputation, and we are seeing politics play a huge role in the perception of electric vehicles, their evolving technology, and the economy surrounding them.”

The Questions and Results

The results and the wording of the questions asked by MRG follow.

Q. Do you personally own a Battery Powered Electric Vehicle or a Hybrid Vehicle that uses both Electricity and Gasoline? [If Yes, ASK THEM, Which one?]

Q. In the next 5 years, are you planning on purchasing a battery powered electric vehicle? {IF YES/NO, ASK, would you say that you are definitely or probably purchasing/not purchasing an electric vehicle?]

MRG Michigan Poll® Spring 2024

The survey of 600 likely Michigan voters was conducted by live phone interview from April 8 to April 11, 2024 with a +1.3 DEM sample. The sample was randomly drawn from a listed sample of all registered voters with a history of voting and stratified by city and township to reflect voter turnout. Quotas for gender and cell phone interviews were met within each geographic area, and extra efforts were made to reach African Americans. Some columns or results may not add up to 100% because of rounding. Individual rounding may impact final totals. This survey yields a sampling margin of error of ±4 percent with a 95 percent confidence interval. The sampling margin of error for subgroups may be higher depending on the size of the subgroup.

About Marketing Resource Group (MRG)

Lansing, Michigan-based Marketing Resource Group (www.mrgmi.com) is an award-winning PR firm representing corporate, association, nonprofit, and private clients with interests in Michigan. MRG offers expertise in public affairs, communications, political campaign management, and public opinion survey research. For more than thirty years, MRG has conducted its bi-annual omnibus Michigan Poll®, tracking the pulse of Michigan voters on key statewide public policy and political issues. MRG is the only Michigan public opinion survey research firm that maintains nearly 40 years of trend analyses of voter attitudes related to state and national leaders, political parties, and the political and economic climate in Michigan.