Translated:
Data from the Ministry of Public Security show that by the end of 2024, the national pure electric vehicle ownership will be 22.09 million, accounting for 70.34% of the new energy vehicle ownership. However, like anything in rapid development, electric vehicles also have "growing pains".
　　"The regret rate of electric vehicle buyers in some low-tier areas has increased." Recently, Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the Passenger Car Market Information Joint Branch of the China Automobile Dealers Association, pointed out when releasing the operation status of charging stations in March. Coincidentally, McKinsey's recently released "McKinsey China Automotive Consumer Insights 2025" report (hereinafter referred to as the "Report") shows that in the past year, more than 30% of pure electric car owners regretted buying electric cars and said they would return to the "fuel party" when they buy a car next time. This "regret rate" is significantly higher than that of plug-in hybrid and extended-range car owners. A previous research report released by McKinsey showed that the proportion of consumers who regretted buying electric cars in 2023 increased significantly compared with 2022, surging from 3% to 22%. It can be seen that the "regret rate" data in the McKinsey report is increasing year by year. So, what is the reason why electric cars are not popular?

The root cause is the unreasonable configuration of charging stations.

Overall, the "regret rate" data shows that users in some large and medium-sized cities have good feedback on the use experience of electric cars, while the experience of electric car owners in low-tier cities and counties needs to be further improved. According to the 2023 data released by McKinsey, the "regret rate" of electric car owners in third- and fourth-tier cities is as high as 54%, far higher than the 10% in first- and second-tier cities.
　　"The pure electric car purchased in 2023 has a driving range of 420 kilometers. I will drive myself every holiday. The overall feeling is that charging stations are easy to find on highways in large and medium-sized cities and nearby roads, and there are relatively few charging stations in third- and fourth-tier cities and nearby areas, so charging is not very convenient." Lu Yang, who is engaged in self-employment in a county in the mainland, told reporters that the reason for buying an electric car is that it is more economical than a fuel car, but after buying it, he found that there are few charging stations in the county and nearby areas, and even if you find a charging station, you have to queue up. "Although charging is more economical than refueling, the time cost of finding charging stations and queuing for charging is very high and the convenience is poor." He said that there are more and more electric cars now, and the construction of charging stations in the county is obviously not keeping up.
　　Some electric car users in the north are dissatisfied with the "shrinkage" of driving range in winter. "In the winter in the north, the driving range of electric vehicles is shortened by nearly half. If you turn on the air conditioner and warm air, the driving range may be halved again." Cheng Bin, an electric car owner in Shaanxi, said that turning on the air conditioner in summer also consumes a lot of electricity. If it is not for his family and children in the car, he will not turn on the air conditioner most of the time. "No matter how you choose, the experience is not good." He said that the power consumption is fast and charging is inconvenient. Why has this problem not been solved for so many years?
　　In fact, the construction of charging infrastructure in China has developed rapidly in recent years, and has built the world's largest number, the widest service scope, and the most complete variety of charging infrastructure systems. Cui Dongshu said that the current charging utilization rate of public stations is three times that of private charging stations, that is, a 3:1 relationship. From January to March 2025, the proportion of charging infrastructure to pure electric vehicle sales reached 0.95, which is basically a 1:1 relationship. Due to the surge in the number of public charging stations installed, the increase in the overall car-to-charging station ratio has reached a relatively reasonable level of 1:1. But the problem is that this 1:1 ratio is not balanced. "At present, the charging infrastructure still has problems such as incomplete layout, unreasonable structure, backward technology of old charging stations, unbalanced services, and inadequate operation." Cui Dongshu believes that the increase in the regret rate of electric vehicle buyers in some low-tier areas is due to the existence of these problems.
　　The "Report" shows that due to the various unpleasant experiences of recharging, some pure electric car owners intend to return to fuel vehicles, and the proportion of these owners has increased. But at the same time, plug-in hybrid/extended range vehicles are steadily gaining popularity among consumers because they are more convenient to recharge and have advantages in alleviating mileage anxiety. The sudden rise of plug-in hybrid/extended range not only brings positive impact to China in the global development of electric vehicles, but also buys time for the gradual improvement and optimization of the public recharging network.
　　In addition, the driving range of electric vehicles of some brands still "does not meet the standards", and the lack of compatibility of charging stations of many brands also makes consumers feel "not cost-effective". An industry expert who declined to be named said that some electric car owners regretted buying the car, mainly within 1 to 3 years of buying the car. The reasons are nothing more than "false mileage", halving of mileage in winter (average attenuation of 40% to 50%), poor compatibility of public charging stations, and untimely maintenance of some charging stations after failure, which have caused some worries for consumers.
　　"At present, most charging stations are still slow charging, and the waiting time for charging is long." Consumer Hang Chen said that although fast charging stations in big cities are becoming more and more convenient, charging stations in low-tier cities are still mainly slow charging stations, and it takes several hours to wait for a single charge. Such a gap in experience has not alleviated the "charging anxiety".

　　Battery life is still a "heartache" that bothers some electric car owners, including the replacement of power batteries.
　　"The cost of replacing the battery is close to 40% to 50% of the purchase price of the whole car, and it is even enough to buy a new car." Su Qing, an electric car owner, told reporters that his electric car has been used for 6 years, and the battery feels obviously not working, but when he asked in the store, the cost of replacing the battery was too high. Replacing a 60kWh battery plus the handling fee would cost 130,000 yuan. At this price, you can now buy a hybrid model or a fuel car, but because the old car has no other problems and drives smoothly, he is very entangled in whether to replace the battery or the car. "It would have been better if I bought an electric car a few years later. Now the new car is more cost-effective." He said.
　　Hang Chen also said that the quote for replacing the battery of his Tesla Model S exceeded 200,000 yuan, because it had passed the warranty period, and replacing the battery would cost nearly 40% of the car price. He feels that this not only exceeds the price of some domestic brand electric vehicles, but is also much more expensive than replacing the engine of a fuel vehicle. In the past, the replacement of the engine of a fuel vehicle, the 2.0T fuel engine assembly is less than 40,000 yuan, and the lifespan is generally 10 to 15 years, which is much longer than the 8-year or 160,000-kilometer warranty of the power battery of an ordinary electric vehicle. "This is like what the car owner group said, 'Save a little money on daily car maintenance, and spend half a car on battery replacement.'" Hang Chen said that many people regret buying electric cars.
　　The reporter learned that the standard for power battery replacement is that the battery capacity drops below 70% of the initial capacity, but when this red line is reached, the power battery is often out of warranty, so it needs to be replaced at your own expense. Therefore, many consumers believe that the warranty is in name only, and even during the warranty period, the brand has various ways to prevent you from leaving the warranty.
　　"Now that there are more and more fast charging stations, the battery life is likely to be shortened, but manufacturers do not consider the replacement of power batteries due to this reason to be within the warranty range." Cheng Bin said that some manufacturers have strict requirements for power battery warranty. If the battery needs to be replaced due to frequent use of fast charging, it is often impossible to use the warranty, and consumers need to replace the battery at their own expense. However, many consumers do not understand the relevant terms and conditions, and often do not know about this until they have to replace the battery. This reason has also led to a continuous increase in the "regret rate" of buying electric vehicles in recent years.
　　Not only that, there are some open secrets in the industry regarding warranty. Suo Tong, an electric vehicle maintenance technician, told reporters that some electric vehicle brands use the charging method rather than the discharging method to calculate the battery capacity during the battery warranty period. The result of this is that although the battery's mileage has decreased in actual use, the test results still show that it has not reached the replacement standard. But after the warranty period, the opposite method is used, that is, the battery capacity is calculated by the discharge method. Such test results usually show that most power batteries need to be replaced. In addition, the test environment will also affect the battery test results. For example, laboratory tests are usually carried out at a constant temperature of 25°C, slow charging, and low discharge intensity, while actual vehicle use scenarios may include fast charging in winter, high temperature exposure, high frequency use, etc., which will cause the battery's health to decline rapidly in actual use.
　　The above-mentioned industry expert who did not want to be named pointed out that the problem of high battery replacement costs is mainly concentrated among users who bought electric vehicles in the early days. In recent years, with the advancement of battery raw materials, technology, and processes, the cost has decreased. Therefore, electric vehicles now have longer mileage and power batteries are cheaper. However, for the warranty restrictions mentioned by consumers, there are indeed some hidden unreasonable terms in reality, such as the designated testing agency for the warranty test of power batteries, the cost of replacing batteries plus commissioning and labor and other service costs, etc. These requirements make consumers who already complain about the high cost of battery replacement even more dissatisfied.
　　The reporter learned that some car owners were forced to choose to replace the original battery at a high price, but other car owners chose to sell the car or even switch back to a fuel car. Some people choose "second-hand batteries" or third-party repairs, but this situation faces certain safety risks.
　　"Compared with pure electric vehicles, some people I know have begun to choose hybrid models and fuel models instead." Hang Chen said that because hybrid models can use fuel when driving long distances, they also extend the battery life to a certain extent and reduce the economic pressure of replacing batteries.

The value retention rate of used cars has not increased but decreased
　　The decline in the value retention rate of used electric vehicles is also a major problem that troubles electric car owners.
　　"A Tesla Model X that was priced at more than 900,000 yuan a few years ago can only be sold for more than 200,000 yuan after driving 65,000 kilometers. It has depreciated by nearly 700,000 yuan in 4 years, and its value retention rate is only more than 20%." Hang Chen said that the value retention rate of the entire second-hand electric vehicle is not high, and the value retention rate has a downward trend year by year, forming a market inversion of "new cars are selling better and better, and second-hand cars are losing more and more money". The value retention rate of fuel vehicles in the same period is generally around 65% to 75%, and the gap between the two is large, which is also one of the reasons for the increase in the regret rate of electric car owners.
　　At present, compared with the second-hand fuel vehicle market, the second-hand electric vehicle trading market still has many "blind spots". "The second-hand ICE vehicle market has long had a relatively mature evaluation system. The age, mileage, maintenance records and market conditions of the car, the approximate value of the car are easy to evaluate, and the transaction is relatively smooth, but the second-hand EV market is still in the exploratory stage." The above-mentioned industry experts believe that the current second-hand EV market still lacks a complete evaluation system. Some second-hand car professional appraisers do not have enough experience to accurately judge indicators such as the health status of the battery, which makes second-hand car dealers dare not easily purchase EVs, and consumers also lack understanding of second-hand EVs. Various factors have led to a low value retention rate for second-hand EVs.
　　It is worth noting that in recent years, the "price war" in the new energy vehicle market has intensified, and the frequent price cuts of new electric vehicles have directly impacted the second-hand car market. For example, the Model 3 has dropped from 279,900 yuan a few years ago to about 230,000 yuan, resulting in an average monthly drop of 5% to 8% in the price of second-hand cars in the same year. At the same time, domestic brand electric vehicles are also reducing prices through direct price cuts, fixed prices, equity adjustments and other methods, making second-hand electric vehicles victims of price wars, and consumers' choice of "buy new or buy old" for electric vehicles continues to tilt towards "buy new".
　　The second-hand electric vehicle market is also affected by technological progress. "At present, the driving range of electric vehicles is rapidly increasing year by year, and it is also accelerating the elimination of old models, resulting in a low value retention rate for second-hand electric vehicles." Cheng Bin gave an example, saying that the driving range of mainstream electric models in 2018 was only about 300 kilometers, and the driving range of new electric models launched in 2024 has mostly exceeded 600 kilometers. The driving range competitiveness of old electric models of the same price has been greatly reduced, causing the value retention rate of second-hand cars to continue to decline.
　　Under such circumstances, second-hand car dealers "change color when talking about electricity", forming a vicious circle. "Unless the price is particularly low, pure electric vehicles will not be accepted." As second-hand car dealer Xia Yun said, most second-hand car dealers know that this is an open secret in the industry. According to the survey, the number of new energy second-hand cars entering the warehouse in the first half of 2024 decreased by 23% year-on-year, and the circulation cycle was extended to more than 90 days, which is three times that of fuel vehicles in the same period. The acceptance of the terminal consumer market is sluggish, and consumers' core concerns are concentrated on battery safety (consumers account for about 58%), charging convenience (accounting for about 32%) and subsequent maintenance costs (accounting for 25%). This dilemma of "difficult to buy cars and even more difficult to sell cars" for electric vehicles has put second-hand electric vehicles in the second-hand car market. The situation of "the less people buy, the less people buy, and the less people buy, the less people buy" has fallen into a situation where "the less people buy, the less people buy" in the second-hand car market.
　　In addition, the insurance cost is higher than that of fuel vehicles, which is also one of the "slots" of electric car owners. "The insurance premium for a fuel car worth 150,000 yuan is about 4,000 yuan, while the premium for a pure electric car of the same price soars to 6,500 yuan. If there is no accident in three years, the premium will only drop by 500 yuan, while the discount for fuel cars in the same period can reach 30%." Lu Yang said that the average annual premium for pure electric cars is 20% to 50% higher than that of ICE cars of the same price. The full insurance of some high-end models such as Tesla is as high as 8,000 yuan, and even the first-year premium of some popular electric models easily exceeds 10,000 yuan, which is close to or even exceeds the premium level of more expensive luxury fuel cars. This situation of "saving fuel money when buying a car and paying the difference when renewing the insurance" will surely make electric car owners regretful.
　　In this regard, not only car owners are "crying out for the high price", but insurance companies are also "complaining". Data released by the Financial Supervision Administration show that the industry's comprehensive cost rate for new energy vehicle insurance will reach 109% in 2023, which means that for every 100 yuan of new energy vehicle insurance business insured by insurance companies, the total cost is 109 yuan, resulting in insurance companies' underwriting losses of 6.7 billion yuan for new energy vehicle insurance in 2023, and a compensation ratio of 84%, which is about 10 percentage points higher than that of fuel vehicles.
　　Cui Dongshu believes that the high level of electrification and intelligent integration of electric vehicles leads to high maintenance costs, which in turn affects the high premiums. At the same time, from the current electric vehicle maintenance system, due to the relatively conservative overall maintenance technology, external maintenance is more difficult, and the internal maintenance price is higher, these factors also lead to high premiums. In addition, in terms of the use of electric vehicles, since online ride-hailing cars are difficult to distinguish from private cars, and online ride-hailing cars have a higher mileage, the probability of failure is relatively large, which overall raises the premiums of electric vehicles.
　　However, the industry is gradually exploring feasible solutions to the above problems. Liu Chunsheng, associate professor at the Central University of Finance and Economics, believes that with technological progress, vehicle safety is constantly improving and the accident rate will decrease. In addition, insurance companies are also improving data and achieving accurate pricing based on data, which can not only solve the problem of high premiums, but also better control risks. At the same time, car companies participate in after-sales maintenance to reduce losses, and the gradual maturity of the maintenance market leads to cost reduction, which will reduce the insurance claim rate and gradually get rid of the dilemma of high premiums.
　　Despite the various "growing pains" of electric vehicles, the industry is still confident about the future of electric vehicles. "In the past 10 years, the transformation of the Chinese market in the automotive field has made remarkable progress, and it has also become a global "test field" for electrification and intelligent transformation. These huge changes are continuously influencing and shaping the preferences of Chinese auto consumers; and the preferences of consumers are also influencing and urging the Chinese auto industry to embrace electrification and intelligence more closely and accelerate related investment." Guan Mingyu, senior director partner of McKinsey Global and head of McKinsey's automotive consulting business in China, believes that this mutually reinforcing role will not only determine the future of the Chinese auto industry, but will also gradually affect the international auto market.