Keystone Today

A Toyota executive has warned the U.S. is not currently prepared to make the shift toward electric vehicles, noting that a lack of charging infrastructure and high prices are major hurdles. 

Those points were echoed in a Consumer Reports survey, with respondents indicating that factors such as a lack of charging stations and limited mileage range are preventing them from purchasing an electric vehicle. There currently are fewer than 3,300 public EV charging stations in Pennsylvania. 

Jack Hollis, executive vice president of sales at Toyota Motor North America, spoke during a virtual event with journalists, according to the Wall Street Journal, and noted that prices and a lack of charging infrastructure would impede consumers from making the switch to EVs. 

“As much as you want to talk about EVs, the marketplace isn’t mature enough,” Hollis said, according to the publication. “I don’t think the market is ready for what the rhetoric is saying,” he later added.

According to the publication, Hollis also told journalists the ever-increasing cost of raw materials used for EVs, including key battery components such as lithium and cobalt, will result in higher sticker prices for EVs. 

Those points came out in the Consumer Reports survey, which included responses from 8,027 participants, found that more than 60% of American s cite a lack of infrastructure as a roadblock to purchasing an EV, while 55% cite the limited range of an EV on one charge as an obstacle. Consumer Reports also noted that its survey found that 63% of Americans wouldn’t purchase an EV, with 58% citing cost as a factor in their decision. 

Data from the University of California Davis EV Research Center revealed that EVs currently average a range of 250 miles on one charge. In Pennsylvania, there currently are 3,256 charging stations across the state, according to plugshare.com.

Toyota, like many other car companies, is investing in its EV program, according to the Wall Street Journal, with the company expecting to manufacture 3.5 million EVs a year by 2030. The publication noted that Hollis expects people to embrace EVs in the future, and the automaker needs to be ahead of the trend while providing hybrid alternatives today. 

According to a CNBC report, the Inflation Reduction Act, passed by lawmakers and signed by President Joe Biden earlier this month, extends the $7,500 tax credit for the purchase of new EVs, but Morningstar Senior Equity Analyst Seth Goldstein told the network that the credit includes some income and price restrictions.