One in four prospective car buyers would definitely or seriously consider an electric vehicle if they had to get a car today, and the biggest thing holding the rest back is charging. Consumer Reports put that 25 percent figure, along with a 57 percent charging-logistics concern, into a survey of 2,124 U.S. adults conducted in July 2026 and released on Oct. 2. The organization also reports that every one of the top five EV barriers has fallen sharply since it asked the same kind of question in 2023.
So the result carries two readings at once: a minority of shoppers is open to plugging in, and that minority is larger and less worried than it was three years ago.
The 25 percent and who sits on either side of it
The 25 percent applies to prospective buyers, the people who expect to buy or lease a vehicle, and it counts those who would “definitely or seriously” consider an EV. It is a strict bar, so the three-quarters outside it include shoppers who are undecided as well as those who have ruled electrics out.
Experience splits the sample sharply. Among respondents who drove an electric-only vehicle in the past year, 68 percent would definitely or seriously consider one; among those who had not, the share is 20 percent. Only 11 percent of the sample had driven an electric-only vehicle in the past year, a slight improvement on 2023, so most people answering the question were answering it blind.
Chris Harto, Consumer Reports’ manager of energy impact, drew that conclusion himself in the organization’s release. “People can’t reasonably be expected to adopt a new technology that they have very limited hands-on experience with,” he said.
An earlier Consumer Reports survey points at where the gap might close. That 2024 poll of 2,146 U.S. adults found that half of consumers would be interested in test-driving a battery electric vehicle while shopping. Interest in a test drive is a lower commitment than serious consideration, and the 2026 split between 68 percent and 20 percent suggests that the drive itself, rather than any brochure claim, is what moves people from one group to the other.
Charging logistics at 57 percent, ahead of range and cost
Among buyers who are not definite EV shoppers, charging logistics is the most common barrier at 57 percent. Range anxiety follows at 51 percent and purchase or ownership costs at 45 percent. Consumer Reports says all five of its top barriers dropped significantly from the 2023 nationally representative survey, and that the shares who have seen an EV, know an owner or have ridden in one have noticeably increased.
The infrastructure those buyers are weighing is sizable. The Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuels Data Center listed 82,849 charging station locations with 262,091 ports on Oct. 9, including 79,039 DC fast ports, 182,347 Level 2 ports and 693 Level 1 ports. The count excludes stations that are temporarily unavailable.
The survey measures worry rather than port counts, and the two do not map neatly. The center’s home charging page says most EV drivers charge overnight at home on Level 1 or Level 2 equipment, with a fully depleted 54 kWh battery, about a 200-mile range, costing roughly $6 at 10.7 cents per kilowatt-hour. For a shopper without a driveway or garage outlet, that home-first model is exactly the logistics problem the 57 percent describes.
Public charging’s role and the slower pace of EV adoption
The department’s public charging guidance frames the network as a supplement: Level 2 or DC fast charging at shopping centers, airports, hotels and highway corridors that extends the daily range of all-electric vehicles. A buyer who cannot charge at home depends on that supplement for everything, which is why charging logistics outranks range in the survey.
Demand data points the same direction. The Energy Information Administration’s Today in Energy reported on Sept. 30 that light-duty EVs consumed about 8 percent more electricity in the first half of 2026 than in the second half of 2025, a slower pace than the 13 to 24 percent growth of recent six-month periods, after federal tax credits expired in September 2025. EV electricity use totaled nearly 14 billion kilowatt-hours in the first half.
The mismatch between worry and supply helps explain why the barrier ranking looks the way it does. A port count says nothing about whether a given apartment dweller, renter or road-trip driver can find a working plug when needed, and the survey registers that uncertainty as logistics. Range, at 51 percent, ranks second partly because the two concerns feed each other: a driver who doubts the charging network wants more battery to compensate, and a larger battery raises the purchase cost, which sits third at 45 percent.
Consumer Reports’ recommendation follows from its own numbers. With hands-on experience limited and charging, range and cost worries still significant, the organization says fuel-efficient hybrids can be good options for many drivers. The survey does not say how many of the one in four who would seriously consider an EV will actually buy one, and its release stops at stated intent.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.
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