More than a third of new car buyers in California would purchase reasonably priced zero-emission electric vehicles if more of them were available in showrooms, according to a new survey of car buyers in the nation's largest auto market. Some 33.4 percent of those polled said they would buy an electric vehicle as their next car purchase if that vehicle were priced close to the same price as a gasoline vehicle.

Part of a study, titled "The Current and Future Market for Electric Vehicles," the survey of 934 California new-car buyers, was conducted in July by the nonprofit Green Car Institute and The Dohring Co. automotive market research firm on behalf of the California Electric Transportation Coalition (CalETC). The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percent.

The study results sharply contradict auto industry statements to the ARB in recent months that there is little consumer demand for electric vehicles, although lackluster sales of electric and hybrid vehicles seem to back up the industry's opinion. The poll results were released during hearings this week before the California Air Resources Board, which is set to decide whether to maintain or modify California's long-standing Zero Emission Vehicle production requirements.

"This is the study the auto industry didn't want to see," said David L. Modisette, executive director of CalETC. "This study used the same research methodologies employed by the auto industry to identify markets for its gasoline vehicles. The results show there is a very strong consumer market for EVs in California, a demand automakers either don't want to believe or want to go away."

The study shows that the annual consumer market for EVs is between 12 and 18 percent of the new light-duty vehicle market in California. This equates to annual sales of approximately 151,200 to 226,800 electric vehicles, a potential market some seven to 10 times larger than the estimated 22,000 vehicles required to be sold in 2003 under current California regulations. Other key findings in the research are that car buyers want to be able to buy EVs rather than lease them and that EVs need to be tailored to consumer tastes in size, features and functionality. Current electric vehicles, most prominently the General Motors EV, are only available for lease. If that limitation were kept, almost 40 percent of those who said they wanted to buy an EV would switch to a gasoline vehicle.

When asked nitty-gritty questions about features and attributes buyers wanted to see in electric vehicles, consumers told the study that they wanted electrics to be as much like gasoline-powered cars as possible. Those polled responded overwhelmingly (53 percent) in favor of four- or five-passenger sedans that include the amenities found in gasoline vehicles. The survey also reported the surprising result that about 50 percent of the consumers who wanted to buy EVs said they would accept a vehicle with a 60-to-80 mile range-per-charge.