Electric vehicles are garnering a lot of attention, but there are many hurdles---range, electrical retrofits and costs---to clear before they are widely adopted, according to a study by IBM.
IBM's Institute for Business Value conducted a survey of 1,716 drivers and 123 auto industry execs. In a nutshell:
That's the good news. The bad news is that home retrofitting to support EVs is a major hang-up. Only 8 percent of drivers said they would spend $1,000 to $1,999 to retrofit their homes to charge an EV in 3 hours to 5 hours. Homes need a 220v outlet close enough to an EV to charge it. Those retrofits will run you anywhere from $1,000 to $2,000.
And then there's the charging station conundrum. Where do you put charging stations? Hint: It's not the street. Indeed, 62 percent of drivers said they parked at a store or mall when not at home or work. The street was No. 2 at 17 percent. Conclusion: Charging stations need to head to the mall.
Here's a selection of questions from the IBM survey.
This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com