72% of U.S. adults in a BMW survey said minimum range could decide their EV choice

Seventy-two percent of respondents in a new BMW Group survey said the minimum driving range of an electric vehicle would be a deciding factor when they consider one. Yet 73% of the same sample said 25, 50 or 75 miles would cover their daily driving, a distance well inside what even a modest battery delivers.

BMW Group in the U.S. issued the results on Oct. 8, 2026, under a headline saying Americans want more EV range than they need day to day.

1,005 adults, online, Sept. 11 to 13

According to BMW’s release from Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey, Big Village surveyed 1,005 U.S. adults aged 18 and older online from Sept. 11 to 13, 2026, with results weighted to match the U.S. adult population. The same release says the 2025 comparison point is a survey of 1,007 adults fielded May 7 to 9, 2025, and cautions that the different fielding dates may affect comparability.

The 72% is therefore a share of a weighted sample of adults in general, not of EV owners or active shoppers. The release reports no margin of error and does not reproduce the exact question wording, summarizing it instead as range being “a deciding factor.” BMW’s June 2025 release on the earlier poll, also run by Big Village, does not report a deciding-factor percentage, so that release offers no year-earlier figure to show whether the 72% has moved.

Daily miles against desired range

The gap the release stresses is between habit and preference. Alongside the 73% whose daily routine is 75 miles or less, 42% want 300 or more miles of range and 18% want more than 400 miles. Autoblog’s account of the survey frames the combination as Americans wanting more range than they use.

A gender split sits inside the top-line figure: BMW reports range as a deciding factor for 80% of men and 64% of women, and a preference for 300-plus miles among 50% of men and 35% of women. The 72% is a blend of two groups that answered 16 points apart, which means the overall share depends on how many men and women the weighting assigns to the sample.

Range as a daily-use question has come up in BMW Group’s earlier polling. A June 2024 MINI USA survey of 1,013 adults, fielded April 19 to 21, 2024, found 71% drive under 75 miles a day and said range has less impact on today’s consumers, a different poll with a different sponsor brand and sample but the same pattern of short daily trips.

Alexander Schleicher, head of e-mobility at BMW Group North America, said in the announcement that consumers “evaluate EVs the same way they’d evaluate any other vehicle,” and that “EVs are mainstream now.”

Charging speed and the other barriers

Charging speed is the lever BMW emphasizes. Fifty-three percent said an EV adding about 150 miles in a 10-minute fast-charging stop would make them more likely to consider one, including 70% of Gen Z, 65% of Millennials, 52% of Gen X and 30% of Baby Boomers. Fifty-five percent call 30 minutes or less an acceptable charging time, up from 48% in 2025, and 76% accept an hour or less, up from 71%.

Purchase price is the top barrier at 51%, followed by battery longevity and replacement cost at 31%, charging time at 26%, and driving range and public charging availability at 24% each. Range therefore ranks fourth as an outright obstacle even as 72% call it a potential deciding factor, a pattern that suggests respondents treat minimum range as a screening threshold they apply before weighing price rather than as the reason they have held back so far; the release does not break out how many respondents hold both views at once, so that reading stays an inference. Seventy-six percent of those surveyed also said an hour or less of charging is acceptable, which sets the bar BMW’s fast-charging claims are aimed at. Sixty-eight percent said they would consider an EV, and 55% would consider a used or certified pre-owned model if the savings were enough.

The release attaches product claims to those answers: an estimated 185 miles added in 10 minutes for the iX3 at an 800-volt DC fast charger, and up to 435 EPA-estimated miles for the all-electric iX5. The EV Report’s coverage repeats the survey’s sample and dates and names the pollster, which confirms the 1,005-person base independently of BMW’s own page.

The survey was commissioned by the company that benefits from the answer that buyers want range and fast charging, and the release publishes neither a margin of error nor the full questionnaire. Until the underlying toplines are released, the 72% is a sponsor-commissioned reading of 1,005 weighted adults rather than an independent measure of how Americans choose a car.

This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.

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