Exploratory research has been conducted to assess the relative importance of the factors which are most influential in discouraging the purchase of an electric car. In addition, trade-offs among the following factors: range, maximum speed, recharging time, and cost/delay in the case of a battery rundown, are estimated. Results point to a gap in the growing extant literature with respect to the high relative importance of the problems associated with a possible dead battery and that potential buyers may find these problems unacceptable, as is the case with problems associated with limited range and/or speed. The differentiation of preferences is examined with respect to socio-economic and demographic variables. The percentage of participants preferring a specific electric car concept is also compared with its average probability of being purchased.