He plugged his electric vehicle into his home charger and went to bed. During the night, strong winds bring down a power line. Your charger turns off. Then a fire report, followed by an evacuation order. Your battery is only charged to 25%. And it's your only car.
Such are the fears being expressed by some California car buyers amid the fires that devastated Los Angeles County and forced people to evacuate their homes at a moment's notice.
A gasoline car “can evacuate in any direction on any road and still get fuel when needed,” said Matthew Butterick, a Los Angeles attorney who lives near Griffith Park. “Electric vehicle stations on evacuation routes would have massive queues and delays, and even less so at gas stations. And mains power may not be available. Power companies turn off the power to avoid starting a fire and also to avoid legal liability. “This is probably the future of all the hillside neighborhoods.”
Val Cipollone, who lives in the forested hills overlooking Berkeley, echoed his sentiments. She owns a Nissan Leaf, an all-electric vehicle with a range of about 220 miles, which she plans to sell.
“Who knows how far you'd have to drive” after a disaster, he said. “I used to think I would just have to drive to my workplace. But who knows, maybe I have to go much further.”
To replace his electric vehicle, he said he will buy a hybrid car or a plug-in hybrid. However, it won't consider a traditional gasoline car. “It's a matter of good conscience,” he said, citing the environment. “I wouldn't feel comfortable buying one.”
Fires aside, many potential car buyers are in tune with Cipollone's concerns. As U.S. sales of traditional fossil-fuel-powered cars and light trucks plummet (from 17 million in 2015 to 12.9 million last year), electric vehicles and hybrids have taken off, but in recent years years, as the growth of electric vehicles has slowed, hybrids are on a tear.
Hybrid sales rose 63% in 2023 and 29% in 2024, to 1.8 million, according to auto data company Edmunds. During the same years, electric vehicles increased by 34% and 13%, to 1.2 million. As recently as 2022, US electric vehicle sales were growing 45%.
Although electric vehicles could well return to breakneck growth as vehicle prices fall and public charging networks are established, the industry now appears to have exhausted the market for early adopters and must attract mainstream buyers, said Jessica Caldwell, an analyst at Edmunds.
Electric vehicles “require a different relationship with your vehicle than people have had before. They require a lot more planning,” Caldwell said. This includes installing a home charger, which sometimes requires an electrical upgrade; calculate routes for long-distance trips to find where cargo is available; and look for public chargers that work when charging stations are stuck or chargers are not working.
That may improve as a multibillion-dollar federal program to install public chargers every 50 miles along interstates builds over the years. If California's plan to subsidize chargers in multifamily housing takes off, and if those chargers prove reliable (a big if), electric vehicles could attract more buyers.
But for now, Caldwell said, “many people are not ready to make a lifestyle change. “They want to be green, but maybe they’re not ready to go all-electric.”
Veloz, a nonprofit group that drives the adoption of electric vehicles, said in a statement that disasters will put “a strain on the entire infrastructure” and that zero-emission vehicles are key to mitigating the impacts of climate change.
“I think there is some value in having a hybrid when you only have one car,” Margaret Mohr, Veloz's communications director, said in an interview. “However, they would not get all the benefits of an electric vehicle and there will still be long lines at the gas pump in case of emergency.”
However, most major auto companies are hedging their bets on all-electric vehicles. Ford has slowed the launch of electric vehicles and accelerated the introduction of hybrid vehicles. (Already, more than 20% of Ford F-150 truck sales are hybrid.) Hyundai, whose Ioniq 5 and other mid-priced electric cars are selling well, recently introduced what it calls the Hyundai Way program, aimed at offering a variety of powertrains, with an emphasis on hybrids and plug-in hybrids.
Hybrids are “a big part of our strategy,” said Randy Parker, newly named head of North American operations for Hyundai and Genesis Motor. Hyundai's hybrid sales are up 46% in 2024, while electric vehicle sales are up 28%, it said. “We're doing everything we can to reach customers where they are,” Parker said. The company won't give up on electric vehicles, he said, predicting a return to faster growth “as consumers become more comfortable with the infrastructure.”
The battery in a traditional hybrid car works with the gasoline engine to improve mileage. The battery in a plug-in hybrid can travel a certain distance on battery power alone.
Customers will have more choices in hybrid cars this year, said Cars.com analyst David Greene. A wave of new hybrid models will arrive in 2025, both traditional and plug-in hybrids. (Both types combine a small car battery with an internal combustion engine, resulting in fewer emissions and better gas mileage. A traditional hybrid doesn't need to be plugged in; it uses the gasoline engine to recharge. But it can't run on Battery only. A plug-in hybrid has a larger battery (typically 30 to 50 miles of range) and can run overnight from a regular 110-volt household outlet. It can run on battery power alone until it runs out. exhaust and combustion is interrupted. the engine takes (more, travel distance for many buyers).
Hybrid growth is driven primarily by Toyota, Greene said, and not just by the Prius line – the OG of hybrid cars – but also by the Camry, Highlander, RAV4 and other popular models. (In fact, the Camry is only available with a hybrid powertrain.)
It is yet to be determined what effect the Los Angeles fires could have on propulsion system options. “I don't think so [the fires] will have a massive effect” on electric vehicle sales, Caldwell said. However, some people will find the idea that “you have a full tank of gas, you're out of there, and you don't have to worry about filling the tank for 300 miles” appealing.
Count Butterick among them.
“I just refueled my car,” he told The Times when the Sunset Fire broke out in the Hollywood Hills last week. “I wouldn't want to evacuate in an electric vehicle.”
