Based on their credit behavior, electric vehicle buyers in the U.S. market still resemble the first wave of upscale EV buyers who can afford what amounts to a battery-powered luxury vehicle, according to a recent study from TransUnion, the Chicago-based credit bureau.

That’s significant because the eventual mass-market rollout of electric vehicles depends on thriftier, less-wealthy borrowers getting onboard the EV bandwagon, as more-affordable EVs hit the market.

So far, there’s a small but growing number of mainstream-brand and mainstream-priced EVs, from makes like Ford, Toyota, Hyundai, Kia, Subaru, Jeep, and Honda.

The TransUnion study said EVs accounted for 8.3% of U.S. new-vehicle sales in the second quarter of 2023, more than double 4% share in the third quarter of 2021.

“Many new models have hit the market,” said Satyan Merchant, senior vice president and automotive business lead for TransUnion, in a phone interview.

However, the credit profile of the mainstream-brand EV buyer continues to remain stronger than that of the mainstream-brand buyer of vehicles with an internal-combustion engine, he said.

More than 60% of mainstream-brand EV buyers in the study had credit scores in the “super-prime” segment, defined as credit scores above 780. That was in line with luxury-brand buyers, for both EVs and internal-combustion vehicles.

The average credit score for mainstream-brand EV buyers is 774, the study said.

At the same time, buyers with subprime credit, defined as credit scores 600 and below, made up 5% of mainstream-brand, internal-combustion buyers, but only 1% of mainstream-brand EV buyers, the study said. The subprime segment has a similar share among luxury brands, TransUnion said.