EXECUTIVE DASHBOARD
Your high-voltage overview of the current EV and self-driving vehicle landscape
Tesla’s extended slide. Despite Elon Musk’s step away from politics, Tesla’s brand reputation continues to decline on key metrics with no signs of reprieve.
Robotaxis face steep headwinds. Consumer skepticism of both robotaxis and their underlying autonomous driving capabilities suggests they will struggle to achieve acceptance nationally.
Toyota poised for success. Toyota, whose growing EV market share now merits inclusion in this report, benefits from significant consumer positivity that should buoy its continued growth in the category.
Charging market highly diverse. EV chargers and home battery storage see a diverse set of consumer sentiment leaders, while Tesla continues to lead as the preferred for municipal charging partner.
ABOUT EVIR & METHODOLOGY
The Electric Vehicle Intelligence Report tracks actionable insights on consumer attitudes, trends, and perceptions across the evolving U.S. EV landscape. Our proprietary research methodology delivers real-time insights into how people are thinking about the future of driving.
EVIR surveyed more than 8,000 U.S. consumers, weighted by education, race, gender, age, income, and geography, to uncover the truths behind what’s powering or stalling the EV and self-driving car transition.
THE LONG HAUL: TRENDS TO WATCH
What to watch in the fast-moving market, and where the data is going
What is Tesla’s timescale? Elon Musk is out of the limelight, but Tesla isn’t out of the doldrums, as we see early evidence that a reputational turnaround for Tesla will take considerable time to materialize, if it ever does.
Can robotaxis achieve scale? With consumers markedly hesitant towards robotaxi technology, what happens when the rubber meets the road and robotaxi rides become more widely available?
Will Toyota and Waymo get the job done? Toyota’s brand reputation is sterling, topping most consumer measures, including positive perception of potential self-driving cars. Will their partnership with Waymo bear fruit or will it be held back by wider consumer resistance?
Do consumers actually want self-driving? Beneath robotaxi reluctance lies limited consumer interest in autonomous vehicles, raising larger questions about cultural norms that may stand in the way of the technology’s convenience and safety benefits.
THE FAST LANE: ELECTRIC VEHICLE MARKET INSIGHTS
A summary of the data on perceptions of self-driving vehicles, robotaxis, and top EV brands
The 0-to-60 Takeaways
- Robotaxi adoption faces serious consumer resistance, with high levels of consumer concern about autonomous driving (77%), 71% of consumers unwilling to ride in a robotaxi, and a substantial share (43%) believing that robotaxis should be illegal.
- Excitement for robotaxis is driven primarily by the benefits of a driverless experience, such as a lack of tipping and avoiding risk of inappropriate driver behavior, but these factors are mitigated by consumer desire for a human driver to override autonomous behavior or handle emergency situations.
- Consumers are skeptical of the full self-driving technology that undergirds the robotaxi proposition, with 60% considering Tesla’s full self-driving “unsafe,” 77% unwilling to utilize full self-driving technology, and a substantial share (48%) believing full self-driving should be illegal.
- However, younger, urban, and high-income consumers are consistently more open to robotaxi and autonomous vehicle technology, both in terms of enthusiasm and utilization intent, indicating a short-term path forward for adoption.
- Tesla continues to decline in key consumer metrics including brand positivity and trust, despite Elon Musk’s commitment to step back from politics.
- Notably, we have seen other dedicated EV brands such as Lucid and Rivian make gains in key metrics, suggesting they may be benefitting from “positivity migration” away from Tesla among committed EV consumers.
- Toyota now tops nearly all consumer metrics after gaining inclusion in our survey due to market share growth.
Over 70% of consumers overall say they are not currently considering or would never consider riding in an autonomous and/or self-driving taxi, while roughly a quarter say they have not done so but would consider it. Younger consumers (ages 18-44) express significantly more openness to riding in a self-driving taxi than older consumers, as do urban and suburban consumers when compared to rural consumers and the higher-income consumers (over $100k) when compared to lower-income consumers. However, across all consumer demographics, there is no group where a large majority doesn’t express lack of interest in using the technology.
Factors Driving Excitement About Autonomous and/or Self-Driving Taxis
When asked which factors excited them most about self-driving taxis, consumers cited not feeling pressured to tip a driver, more mobility for the elderly, and avoiding inappropriate or unprofessional driver behavior as the most compelling reasons to use autonomous taxis. Door to door service, and lowering emissions were the two least exciting factors surveyed.
Factors Driving Concern About Autonomous and/or Self-Driving Taxis
Consumer concern about autonomous vehicles is driven most by safety and support issues–36% cite the lack of human judgment, and 32% worry about the absence of help if something goes wrong during a ride. Only 9% mention job loss and just 3% cite data privacy.
Over 40% of consumers overall say they either somewhat or strongly believe that autonomous and/or self-driving taxis should be illegal, while around a third say they either somewhat or strongly believe they should be legal. Roughly a quarter of consumers are unsure. Younger consumers and the highest-income consumers ($150k+) are most likely to strongly believe that autonomous and/or self-driving taxis should be legal. Urban and suburban consumers believe the technology should be legal in roughly equal shares, though more suburban consumers believe they should be illegal than urban consumers. Higher shares of lower-income consumers (>$100k) believe the technology should be illegal relative to higher-income consumers.
Over half of consumers overall say they would never consider allowing their car to be used as an autonomous and/or robotaxi when they are not using it, while a quarter say they are not currently considering it. Only 10% of consumers say they would consider it.
Roughly a fifth of younger consumers say they would consider allowing their car to be used as an autonomous and/or robotaxis when they are not using it, while less than 10% or older consumers say the same. While a majority of consumers across all income levels say they would never consider it, lower-income consumers (>$100k) are somewhat more likely to say so relative to higher-income consumers.
Perception: Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” Technology
Autonomous and/or Self-Driving Car Brand Perception: Positive vs. Negative
All consumers
* View Intensity score is the share of consumers who say they have a “very” positive view of the brand minus the share of consumers who say they have a “very” negative view of the brand.
Concerns About Purchasing an Electric Vehicle
EV Brand Perception: Positive vs. Negative
All consumers
* View Intensity score is the share of consumers who say they have a “very” positive view of the brand minus the share of consumers who say they have a “very” negative view of the brand.
EV Brand Perception: Trust
All consumers
** Trust intensity score is the share of consumers who say they trust a brand “a lot” minus the share of consumers who say they distrust a brand “a lot”.
EV Brand Perception: Safety
All consumers
EV Brand Perception: Good For Families
All consumers
EV Brand Perception: Luxury
All consumers
EV Brand Perception: Key Consumer Segments
Income
Geography
Age
The Full Charge: EV Infrastructure
EV Charger Models
Consumers who have owned or are considering purchasing an EV charger
*Interest score is the share of consumers considering purchasing an EV charger who say they are “currently considering” or “open to considering” the model minus those who say they “would never consider” the model.
Home Battery Storage System Models
Consumers who have owned or are considering purchasing a home battery storage system
*Interest score is the share of consumers considering purchasing a home battery storage system who say they are “currently considering” or “open to considering” the model minus those who say they “would never consider” the model.
When states and municipalities build charging networks, which companies would you prefer they use?
All consumers
