Study: Electric car buyers are younger but richer

Buyers of electric cars from major automakers tend to be younger and richer than those who opt for the conventional versions of the same models, a new study funds.

But despite their wealth they also were attracted to a much greater degree by a juicy deal, finds TrueCar.com.

The auto research and buying website, compared the buyers of two models of compact cars — one conventional, the other electric. The research is significant because it points to possible reasons that sales of electric cars, beyond luxury cars such as Teslas, are paltry.

For the conventional Focus, buyers average age 46 and a household income of $77,000 a year. The average Focus Electric buyer is age 43 with household income of $199,000, says TrueCar President John Krafcik.

Among the conventional buyers, half said they bought a Focus because of a lucrative price and rebates. But for the electric that jumped to 82%.

It was similar for the Fiat 500 vs. the electric Fiat 500e. Buyers of the 500 averaged age 47 with $73,000 household income. The 500e attracts buyers with an average age of 45 and $145,000 in income. Some 52% of 500 buyers were lured by the deal vs. 67% for 500e buyers.

"These are really affluent folks," says Krafcik. And one of the ways they got that way was by searching for bargains. "It's their psyche."

TrueCar's findings are in keeping with other studies. In 2012, an online study by the Electric Vehicle Information Exchange found EV owners were primarily "very well educated, upper-middle-class white men in their early 50s with ideal living situations for EV charging."

Even though prices have been cut on many electric vehicles, they are still high compared with other cars, and sales are poor. Ford says it sold 124 Focus Electrics last month — out of 18,100 Focus cars sold overall.

Ron Cogan, publisher of the Green Car Journal, says the electric owners tend to break down in groups. Some are environmental do-gooders who may be poor but are out to save the planet. "They are doing right by the environment," he says.

Others are rich people looking for a deal on a second or third car. With a cheap lease, they can use it to tool around town.

Paul Scott, who sold Nissan Leaf electrics as a salesman for four years, says his customers "cared about society, cared about other people." But he says they clearly were aware that EVs were cheaper to drive.

"They were definitely bargain hunters," says Scott, who left the car business last year to work on a book on climate change.