Once you plug in, you never want to gas up again

May 6

2 min read

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So Why Aren’t We Doing More to Help People Switch?

At Pando Electric, we’ve always believed the EV revolution isn’t a matter of if, but when. A new report from McKinsey & Company confirms what many of us in the industry already know: once American drivers experience the benefits of electric vehicles, they rarely look back.

According to McKinsey’s latest Mobility Consumer Insights study, 76% of EV-owning households in the U.S. plan to buy another EV, up from 56% last year. Even households with both EVs and gas vehicles are showing a clear preference to phase out combustion. EV satisfaction is rising fast thanks to better infrastructure, longer range, and a growing list of affordable models.

🚧 But the U.S. EV Market Has a Geography Problem

While the coasts are moving fast, California, New York, and Washington are keeping pace with Europe, adoption in the rest of the country remains sluggish. In fact, only 12% of U.S. households say their next car will be an EV, compared to 23% in Europe and 45% in China.

So what’s holding the U.S. back?

It’s not interest. It’s access.

Too many Americans still live in EV charging deserts, especially those in multifamily housing, where installing traditional EVSE is expensive, complicated, and often ignored. These are the exact barriers Pando Electric was built to eliminate.

🔌 The Real Bottleneck: Charging at Home (and Apartments)

One reason people hesitate to go electric is the fear of not being able to charge reliably. And while single-family homeowners can often install Level 2 chargers in their garages, apartment dwellers are left behind.

This is the overlooked majority. Over 44 million U.S. households are in multifamily housing. Without convenient and affordable home charging, these potential EV buyers are stuck on the sidelines.

That’s where Pando comes in.

We’ve built the only affordable, high-power, zero-maintenance EV charging solution designed specifically for apartments, condos, and HOAs. In fact, our recently awarded $5.4 million grant from the California Energy Commission will support deployment of 1,600+ Pando Smart Outlets at multifamily housing across the state, making EV charging accessible to the communities that need it most.

🛣 Plug-In Hybrids Are a Stepping Stone, But Not the Solution

McKinsey notes a growing interest in plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) among drivers not ready to go fully electric. That’s understandable, especially in regions with poor charging coverage, but it’s a sign of infrastructure failure, not consumer hesitation.

If we want to skip the halfway step and go fully electric, we must fix the charging gap, especially where people live. The more accessible home charging becomes, the faster adoption accelerates.