My guess would be its more of a financial reason...the stats say that 22% of people trading in hybrids and Ev's are trading them in for suv's....that would indicate that the price of gas is the determining factor.
Stats from whom? Edmunds, but they never say what their sampling plan was (who did they talk to) or how many responses they got--10? 50? 200? 10,000? Bias can be baked in or unintentional. Even if the data is legit, the CAFE mileage requirements in place will continue to require EVs/hybrids/fuel cells as alternatives to gas to meet the numbers. Since Americans have fallen in love with SUVs/CUVs lately--bigger vehicles with poorer mileage--it means the rest of the automaker's cars will have to be non-ICE. And the diesel issues aren't helping either as the makers hoped they would.