Hybrid and electric cars aren't as popular as most vehicle enthusiasts believe, according to a new report from car buying service Edmunds.com.
The auto-research group found that there are more owners of these high-efficiency vehicles trading their cars in for sports utility vehicles (SUVs), making up 22 percent of electric and hybrid car owners in the first three months of 2015, according to The Verge. This was an increase from 18.8 percent during the same period in 2014 and 12 percent in 2012.
Edmunds pointed out how those who bought hybrids instead of vehicles running on fossil fuels did so not only to have a positive effect on the environment, but to save money, especially when gas cost over $4 a gallon. However, it became harder to save money with EVs once gas dropped to under $.250 a gallon.
The report follows President Barak Obama's promise to put one million electric cars and hybrids on the road by 2015, though he still needs over 800,000 electric cars to meet this goal, The Daily Caller reported.
Edmunds added that it would take twice as long to save enough gas to make up the difference between "a Toyota Camry LE Hybrid ($28,230) and a Toyota Camry LE ($24,460)" when gas now costs about $2.27 per gallon as it would when gas cost $4.67 per gallon in October 2012.
Batteries in EVs and hybrids are also a factor, as they can sometimes costs thousands to tens of thousands to build.
Edmunds noted that EV and hybrid sales dropped from 3.3 percent of total new car sales in 2014 to 2.7 percent this year, The Verge reported. This may be hurting hybrids more, as they tend to be priced higher than the Nissan Leaf, Ford Focus Electric and other EVs intended to compete with commuter cars.
