In a recent PolkView article published by R.L. Polk & Company, author Stephan Gallon takes a good, long hard look at the state of the electric car business and who is going to be buying the electric cars of tomorrow.

The article says that nearly every OEM has electric car programs in the works. We know about a few of them. Tesla is available today. The Nissan LEAF is coming soon, with early vehicles arriving in Hawaii dealerships first. GM’s electric Volt is of course also coming soon, and programs are under way from MINI, smart, Mitsubishi and others.

An interesting point made in the article was that “while the quantities were small, just as many Prius as Porsche 911 buyers purchased the Tesla Roadster.” Just goes to show that traditional consumer focus groups, and cross-shopping trends by MSRP, are not always right; it is just as likely that a consumer may consider a Range Rover over a 911 even though the two cars have completely different missions.

More lessons: Gas prices are a huge factor in forecasting sales of electrics, California blazes trend-setting sales patters (nothing new there), and electric car buyers are more affluent than those who purchase gasoline-powered cars.

Electric car buyers also tend to stay in the type of vehicle they are used to. Current Escape owners are more likely to buy an Escape Hybrid; conversely, current Camry owners are more likely to buy a Camry Hybrid than something other than a sedan.

To get more details on the study, download the complete report.