Once upon a time, driving electric cars was the trend, but switching to oil cars has become a new choice. A McKinsey survey shows that 29% of electric car owners around the world are considering returning to the fuel vehicle camp, with the proportion in the United States as high as 46% and Australia as high as 49%.
An Ernst & Young report pointed out that 50% of consumers who plan to buy a car prefer fuel vehicles, an increase of 13% from last year. These car owners once embraced electrification with enthusiasm, but gradually became sober in daily use.
Regret rates among early tram users are rising. In 2023, 22% of Chinese pure electric car owners said they would no longer consider new energy sources for their next car. In 2022, this proportion was only 3%. The "return" phenomenon of car owners in third- and fourth-tier cities is particularly obvious, with a regret rate as high as 54%. Charging difficulties have become the primary reason why they give up trams.
Battery life anxiety and energy replenishment dilemma
The actual driving range of trams with a nominal range of 600 kilometers is often reduced to about 400 kilometers. Under low temperatures in winter, the bat
Once upon a time, driving electric cars was the trend, but switching to oil cars has become a new choice. A McKinsey survey shows that 29% of electric car owners around the world are considering returning to the fuel vehicle camp, with the proportion in the United States as high as 46% and Australia as high as 49%.
An Ernst & Young report pointed out that 50% of consumers who plan to buy a car prefer fuel vehicles, an increase of 13% from last year. These car owners once embraced electrification with enthusiasm, but gradually became sober in daily use.
Regret rates among early tram users are rising. In 2023, 22% of Chinese pure electric car owners said they would no longer consider new energy sources for their next car. In 2022, this proportion was only 3%. The "return" phenomenon of car owners in third- and fourth-tier cities is particularly obvious, with a regret rate as high as 54%. Charging difficulties have become the primary reason why they give up trams.
Battery life anxiety and energy replenishment dilemma
The actual driving range of trams with a nominal range of 600 kilometers is often reduced to about 400 kilometers. Under low temperatures in winter, the battery life is even cut in half. Cheng Bin, a Shaanxi car owner, said frankly that in the northern winter, driving after turning on the heater will be halved, and the travel radius will be severely restricted.
The inconvenience of charging is even more fatal. Only 9% of users believe that public charging facilities can meet their needs. A sales manager in a fourth-tier city like Lao Zhou has to walk around three times to find charging piles after getting off work at ten o'clock in the evening. When traveling across provinces, his first consideration is not whether the trip is smooth, but whether the battery is sufficient.
The long charging queues at highway service areas during holidays are disappointing. Gas trucks fill up in five minutes and leave, while trams may queue for two hours and recharge for another hour. This difference in energy replenishment efficiency makes people who often travel long distances re-evaluate the value of trams.
Hidden costs and value retention traps
The oil money saved on the surface may be swallowed up by other costs. The insurance cost of trams at the same price range is 15%-20% higher than that of gasoline vehicles, and the gap in first-year premiums is obvious. The maintenance cost is even more staggering. One battery accounts for 40% of the price of the entire vehicle. A minor collision may result in a sky-high repair bill.
The gap in value preservation rates is particularly prominent. In the early days, the three-year value retention rate of low-end electric vehicles was cut in half, while the depreciation rate of oil vehicles during the same period was relatively controllable. BAIC EV160 owners are faced with an embarrassing situation: the battery replacement price is 58,000 yuan, but the residual value of the second-hand car is only 30,000 yuan.
In the early days, A00-class trams priced under RMB 100,000 had the most problems. These models lack a lifetime battery warranty, the battery technology is backward, and the replacement cost is seriously inversely related to the residual value of the vehicle. Compared with the battery protection enjoyed by Tesla owners during the same period, low-end electric car users have become the biggest victims.
Intelligent counterattack of oil trucks
Faced with the impact of trams, fuel vehicles launched a counterattack of "oil and electricity with wisdom". Geely, Chery and other car companies have equipped fuel vehicles with intelligent driving systems, and the Audi A5L is even equipped with Huawei's Qiankun high-end intelligent driving solution. Fuel vehicles are no longer passively withdrawing from the market, but are actively evolving.
In August 2025, the sales volume of traditional fuel passenger vehicles was 902,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 13.5%, achieving positive growth for three consecutive months. Sales of Geely's "China Star" series of fuel vehicles bucked the trend and increased by 21%, with cumulative users exceeding 1.62 million. Market data proves that demand for fuel vehicles is still strong.
The "fixed price" strategy makes the price of fuel vehicles more transparent. The limited-time price of Cadillac CT5 has dropped by up to 84,000 yuan, and the price of Buick Envision S has dropped to 139,900 yuan. This straightforward price war eliminates consumers' concerns about the opacity of fuel vehicle prices.
Rational choices in life scenarios
Technology enthusiasts like Kobayashi eventually returned to gasoline trucks because he found that "what he needed were tools, not electronics." The rapid iteration of electric cars makes people tired, and they become outdated as soon as they get used to it, while the stability and reliability of gasoline cars are more in line with his expectations for vehicles.
Ah Fang, a representative of families with children, switched to a gas truck due to travel needs. She was taking her baby out of the city on weekends, and the battery power dropped sharply during the traffic jam on the highway. The anxiety of queuing up at the service area to charge made her collapse. The "go-and-go" convenience of a gas truck is more suitable for her current pace of life.
For users without fixed parking spaces, using trams may become a burden. It is difficult to install private charging piles and public charging piles are inconvenient. These practical conditions have made some consumers realize that petrol vehicles are more suitable for their lifestyles.
Advances and Limitations of Battery Technology
BYD provides battery renewal subsidies for early car owners, and replacing the standard battery life only costs 50,000 yuan. Technological advances have significantly reduced the cost of using trams.
But the problem of battery degradation still exists. Data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers shows that about 32% of the first batch of private pure electric vehicles have a range of less than 60% of their initial state. These vehicles are reaching a critical point of battery replacement, and owners need to choose between battery replacement or vehicle replacement.
Cell balancing repair technology provides new options for car owners. By repairing partially aged batteries, the battery life of 80% attenuated vehicles can be restored to more than 85% of the original state at a cost of only 5,000-8,000 yuan. The cost of this solution is much lower than replacing the entire battery pack, bringing hope to early tram users.
Policy orientation and market reality
The European Union has lifted its ban on fuel vehicles in 2035, and the Trump administration in the United States has relaxed corporate average fuel economy standards. The policy level no longer radically promotes electrification, but instead allows multiple forms of power to coexist. This shift reflects respect for market realities.
The penetration rate of new energy vehicles in China has reached 40.9%, but fuel vehicles still account for nearly 60% of the market. The rapid growth of plug-in hybrid models shows that the market prefers the complementary solution of "fuel + electricity". Pure electricity is not the only way to replace fuel, and coexistence of multiple options has become the new normal.
The gap in energy replenishment experience directly affects consumers’ final choice.
When the first batch of crab eaters quietly return to gas vehicles, and when policymakers reassess the value of gas vehicles, is this a temporary correction or a long-term turning point? In the long game between trams and gas trucks, which side will you prefer next time?
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