75% of Americans under 35 say they are likely to purchase or lease an EV within five years; 52-point age gap dwarfs 12-point partisan divide
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Electric vehicles have become a political flashpoint in Washington. But new national polling finds the biggest divide among potential EV buyers isn’t political. It’s generational.
Seventy-five percent of adults ages 18–34 and 72% of adults ages 35–49 say they are likely to purchase or lease a new EV within the next five years. Among adults ages 50–64, that number falls to 50%. Among those 65 and older, it drops to just 23%, a striking 52-point gap between the youngest and oldest Americans.
The partisan divide is considerably smaller. Fifty-seven percent of Democrats and 45% of Republicans say they are likely to purchase or lease an EV within the next five years, a difference of just 12 percentage points.
And despite the political debate surrounding EVs, 51% of Americans overall now say they are likely to purchase or lease an EV within the next five years, the highest level recorded since the monthly survey began tracking EV sentiment this summer.
The findings arrive just ahead of Climate Week NYC, as policymakers, business leaders and investors gather in New York to discuss the future of energy, transportation and cleaner technologies. They offer a notably different picture of EV adoption than the partisan debate often surrounding it: when it comes to Americans who see an EV in their future, age is a much sharper dividing line than political party.
The findings are from RPM: Roadmap for Policy Momentum, a monthly national tracking poll from the Zero Emission Transportation Association (ZETA) and Generation180 examining Americans’ attitudes toward electric vehicles, including purchase intent, perceived benefits and barriers to ownership, and views on EV-related policies.
“What this data shows us is that EVs are the cars of today and of the future,” Corey Cantor, Research Director at ZETA said. “Even if they don’t own one now, many people see themselves driving EVs within the next five years. Consumers want industry and policy choices that will make that ownership easier to attain, not harder.”
“This is how new technology often moves into the mainstream: younger consumers lead the way,” said Stuart Gardner, Executive Director of Generation180. “Nearly three in four Americans under 50 say they are likely to purchase or lease an EV within five years. That’s a powerful signal for automakers, policymakers and anyone thinking about the future of the American auto market.”
The RPM data comes from Seven Letter Insight’s monthly national survey. Data will continue to be released monthly.
Download the full report here.
The Zero Emission Transportation Association (ZETA) is a federal coalition focused on advocating for the advancement of the electric vehicle supply chain. ZETA is committed to enacting policies that drive EV adoption, create hundreds of thousands of jobs, and maintain American EV manufacturing dominance in global markets.
Generation180 is a national nonprofit organization working to inspire and equip people to take action on clean energy in their homes and communities. We lead national education campaigns to electrify homes, buildings, and transportation – the biggest sources of carbon emissions.
Methodology: Seven Letter Insight’s TRACKER is a monthly, N=1300 online survey fielded with a representatively sampled group of American voters. The latest survey was fielded from August 14-23, 2026 and has a margin of error of +/- 2.72%. Smaller demographic callouts in reporting have a range of larger margins of error based on the number of respondents represented in each group.
