Fully Charged Show challenges McKinsey report on EV owner satisfaction

A recent report by management consultants McKinsey has sparked controversy by alleging that 29% of electric vehicle (EV) owners consider switching back to a traditional combustion engine car.

However, the claim has been met with strong skepticism from the Fully Charged Show which has responded with its own survey.

The Fully Charged Show stated, “We are using the word ‘alleged’ advisedly because this flies in the face of the multiple surveys the Fully Charged Show has run since 2018, which consistently confirm that the number of battery EV drivers that would return to an ICE car is less than 10%.” This sentiment is echoed in other surveys:

• Zapmap, October 2023: “less than 3% would go back to their ICE vehicle.”
• EVA England, December 2023: 91% have “no intention of returning” to an ICE vehicle.

The McKinsey report was highlighted in an Automotive News report which focused on a higher number of US drivers who allegedly said the same – “more than 40% of US EV buyers want to go back to combustion engine cars.”

But the Fully Charged Show says the statistics contradict McKinsey’s own “The Road Ahead for E-Mobility” research from January 2020, which reported, “91% of EV owners would choose an EV again in their next purchase.”

After struggling to obtain the “Mobility Consumer Pulse” report, the Fully Charged Show requested the methodology from McKinsey but says it remains skeptical.

In response, the Fully Charged Show conducted its own survey via their YouTube channel, receiving 8,867 responses in just 48 hours. The results strongly contradict McKinsey’s findings:

• 93.71% of respondents would not switch back to an ICE vehicle, rising to 95.82% for Tesla drivers and 97.79% of BEV drivers in Queensland, Australia.
• 99.06% would recommend a BEV.
• 95.02% believe mainstream media portrayal of BEVs is unfair, with the highest dissatisfaction in the UK (95.73%) and the lowest in California (86.34%).
• 92.92% think national governments are not doing enough to accelerate the switch to BEVs.

The survey also revealed interesting demographic and behavioral insights:

• The majority of respondents purchased their first BEV in the last two years.
• 91.59% can charge their BEVs at home.
• 58.80% switched brands when buying a BEV, with Tesla being the most positively impacted brand.

The feedback from the Fully Charged Show’s audience, while clearly from an EV-favoring demographic, emphasises the enthusiasm and satisfaction among current EV owners.