A few years ago, this question may have felt easy to answer. For many RVers—and Americans in general—the idea of buying an electric vehicle probably seemed far off, impractical, or simply unnecessary.
But things change fast.
Gas prices continue to sting, especially if you drive long distances, tow a trailer, commute regularly, or travel often. Raise your hand if you’ve recently looked at the pump total and just stood there blinking for a second. In some parts of the country, paying more than $6 a gallon no longer sounds shocking.
At the same time, electric vehicles are becoming harder to ignore. Charging stations are popping up in more places than ever before, including many parks, campgrounds, hotels, and travel stops. Automakers keep rolling out new electric trucks and SUVs, and even longtime skeptics are starting to wonder if an EV might actually fit their lifestyle someday.
Of course, there are still plenty of concerns. Towing range. Charging times. Battery life. Cost. Availability. And for RVers especially, the idea of towing long distances with an electric truck still raises a lot of questions.
So we’re curious…
How likely do you think it is that you’ll buy an electric car or truck within the next year?
And if your answer is “unlikely,” would rising gas prices eventually change your mind? If not gas prices, what would? Better technology? Longer range? Lower prices? Faster charging? Or are you perfectly happy sticking with gas or diesel for the foreseeable future?
Vote in the poll below and tell us more in the comments. We’d especially love to hear from readers who’ve changed their minds—either for or against EVs—in recent years.
One quick favor: Please leave politics out of the discussion and keep comments focused on real-world experience, costs, practicality, and travel. Thank you.
MORE POLLS FROM THIS WEEK:
- How would you describe the condition of America’s interstate highways?
- If you suddenly became filthy rich, would you buy a new high-end RV?
- Do you wear socks in bed at night?
- How many TV/movie streaming services are you currently subscribed to?
- How many bumper stickers are on your RV or tow vehicle?
RVT1261b
I have a deposit down on a SLATE EV pickup. The deposit was put down when the “blank” slate was advertised under $20K. It now seems that around $28K is the price which may cause me to give up my reservation. Build a cheap EV and I may consider it.
I am 76 and my 2019 vehicle has less than 30,000 miles on it. When it wears out, I probably will no longer be allowed to drive so I don’t ever see an electric vehicle in my garages future. If I was still working, they would have been a great choice as I only had a 15 mile round trip and I could just plug it into the 120 volt outlet over night and on weekends and not even need a fancy charging station. I would have then used my real car for long distance travel.
I won’t buy another car until something happens to my current one. Unless it’s totaled in an accident, I’m expecting it to last at least 6 more years before repair and maintenance costs make a new car a better financial decision.
Rural America rules out this choice. Limited range and few charging stations seal the deal.
I did buy an EV when all the incentives went away because the bottom dropped out of the used EV market and I’m so glad I did! I really like the experience. In fact I drove it from NM to Alabama just to see how it would fare and it did great. I even wrote about the experience here.
For our running around town this thing is perfect and we can just plug it into our garage’s standard household outlet which is sufficient for us.
The biggest downfall has been the three letters I’ve received from the city about my love of the accelerator pedal. Fortunately I also found a warning that tells me when I’m exceeding the speed limit in the car in addition to the speedometer.
I’m all for the idea and will most likely purchase when the range improves and the battery bank is made of something that works just as well in the Midwest winter as it does in the summer.
I’ll be interested when someone offers a little grocery getter that will give me about 100 miles on a charge, with either the heat or AC going and maybe get a decent charge overnight on 15-20 amps. And I know the nay sayers will tell me that is not possible, but technology does change constantly. A big plus would be that it has regenerative braking, and I can drag it behind the RV.
During our working years, we considered going electric, now in our let’s get out of here years, no thanks
Yet another 80-20 issue. When you try and force something down the throats of Americans they tend to spit it out.
I would probably buy an electric vehicle if I lived in a community that allowed golf carts on the road.
I previously owned an EV, and it was a good experience; they are fun to drive and economical. I have a strong preference for a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) as my next vehicle. Now if someone comes along that makes a PHEV that’s flat-towable – especially if it’s a mid-sized pickup – I might buy one of those, just not next year…
Have owned an EV for 5 1/2 years in CO. During that time the only maintenance has been one tire replacement, some tire rotations and a couple of cabin air filters. Driving is a hoot with great instant torque as Tony alluded to. Our energy costs recharging at home have been $.03/mile ($.01/mile if we factor in our home solar production. Right now our fuel costs for our truck are $.28/mile not towing, so not a hard choice which vehicle to use when we’re not towing our TT.
I voted “Not happening” not because I have an unflattering opinion on EV’s but because we’re just not in market for a replacement vehicle of any kind in the next year.