Electric Car Drivers Tell Ford: We'll Never Go Back To Gasoline

Fully nine out of 10 electric-car drivers say they won't go back to cars with internal-combustion engines, according to a new Ford survey.

The results included responses from 10,000 drivers of both battery-electric cars and plug-in hybrids.

It found that 92 percent of battery-electric drivers, and 94 percent of plug-in hybrid drivers, plan to purchase another plug-in car as their next vehicle.

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More often than not, that specifically means a battery electric car, Stephanie Janczak--Ford's Manager of Electric Vehicle Infrastructure and Technology--said in a recent interview with CleanTechnica.

Janczak noted that most current all-electric drivers said they would stay with that type of car, while plug-in hybrid owners were more inclined to consider switching to an all-electric vehicle.

The driving experience, and an appreciation of clean technology, were cited as the main reasons for staying electric, she said.

The survey also found a strong correlation between electric-car ownership and renewable-energy use.

Ford says 83 percent of drivers surveyed either would consider installing solar panels at their homes, or already have them.

Using a home solar array to charge an electric car helps further reduce its carbon footprint, by limiting reliance on non-renewable grid sources used to power it.

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Ford's Janczak underscored the clear relationship between electric-car ownership and home-solar use, which had first been identified in a 2012 survey of electric-car drivers by the state of California.