The number of Americans who believe electric cars are better for the environment than gasoline-powered cars has dropped 5% in the past two years, according to a new poll by Ipsos and the first reported by NPR on Monday. While the new polls don’t explain why, we can take some educated guesses.
Only 58% of Americans believe that EVs are good for the environment, according to this latest poll, up from 63% of Americans back in 2022. But the most interesting thing about this data The new one is that the beliefs from those who are considering buying an EV. have remained constant, the beliefs of those who do not want to buy an EV have changed beyond the margin of error for the choice.
Among Americans who are considering buying an electric car, 82% believe that EVs are good for the environment—a number that was the same in 2022 and 2023. But among those who are not considering buying an EV, the numbers have and is greatly reduced. It was 38% in 2022, 31% in 2023, and 30% in this latest 2024 election.
As NPR points out, there are many ways to sell when it comes to electric cars, but by many measures, electric cars are actually good for the environment. But that hasn’t stopped a massive push in the mainstream media to paint EVs as bad for the planet. One example is a New York Post article from March 2024 titled “Electric cars emit more toxic emissions, worse for the environment than gas-powered cars: study.”
In fact, the Post article was misleading because it cited a study that focused only on emissions from tires and tires, not those that contribute as much to climate change as greenhouse emissions. The study showed that tires from electric vehicles can release plastic particles into the air because EVs tend to be heavier than traditional cars. And it’s definitely something to think about when it comes to pollution. But the New York Post was clearly dishonest with its headline, knowing full well that any casual reader would take “emissions” to include things like greenhouse gases.
That article was even quoted by podcaster Joe Rogan during an episode of his podcast to talk about how electric cars can also be neglected for the sake of the environment. And that brings us to the most influential people who are likely to be behind this change in public opinion, especially among those who are not interested in buying an EV to begin with.
Guys like Rogan and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump have loud megaphones to scorn electric cars. And while Trump has softened his rhetoric a bit about EVs, just like a nod to his friend Elon Musk, even billionaire CEO Tesla has seen a shift in his rhetoric, moving closer to Trump, who previously He called climate change a hoax created by China. .
“If we stopped using oil and gas now, we would all starve and the economy would collapse,” Musk said during an X Spaces interview with Trump in August. “Over time we want to move to a sustainable energy economy because eventually, you run out of oil and gas.”
Musk went on to say that “we still have a little time” and “we don’t need to rush” the transition away from fossil fuels.
The problem, of course, is that if people really believe that there is no environmental benefit to buying electric cars, people will be more likely to buy electric cars. And that may seem like a problem for the CEO of an electric car company. Fortunately for Musk, that sentiment seems to be growing among people who were not going to buy EVs before. But if he and his right-wing friends keep telling that story, who knows how public opinion might change in the next two years.
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