Combatting misinformation about electric vehicles
Whilst sales of electric vehicles (EVs) continue to grow, both for new cars and as we saw last week, for second-hand cars too – the battle for hearts and minds is nowhere near won. James Court, Chief Executive of EVA England, examines what more needs to be done.
Look at the comments section under any article about EVs, and you will see a level of vitriol that seems out of kilter for what is, essentially, a different way of powering something. EVs are not going to stop people from driving, nor have a huge impact once they get one. They are just like any other car, other than they are cheaper to run, more comfortable and better for the environment. I would also posit that they are more convenient for the vast number of people and journeys, but I must accept that is less of a slam dunk argument, although my hope is that in a very short time it will be.
However, we have to accept there remains a level of apprehension from many. Only 47% of drivers think EVs will fit in with their lifestyle, according to AutoTrader’s Road to 2030 report last year. If you are a glass half full person, that seems a good place to build from. But whilst encouraging, it does highlight there is an awful lot of work yet to be done.
It is not surprising that so many people are hesitant. Over the past two years, we have seen a huge jump in negative stories coming from the press and social media. Coupled with a ‘U-turn’ from then PM Rishi Sunak which looked (although in reality was not) like the government had backed away from EVs.
The impact this had should not be underestimated, as we saw sales and overall interest noticeably slow. The vehicle industry itself is not blameless, either, having done a certain amount of poisoning the well – the very well they were always going to need, with or without policies such as the ZEV mandate. Talking down a product you were going to sell eventually may have slowed down the transition, which is great for some OEMs, but has undoubtedly made EVs harder to sell in the long run.
The result is a slew of damaging misinformation, which has gained the term FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt), showing little sign of respite. The EV sector has played its part in fighting back, however, working hard to highlight the overwhelmingly positive EV experience felt by most. This myth busting exercise, led by so-called ‘FUDbusters’, has shown that already 86% of people find owning an EV cheaper to run. Only 6% have either very often, or fairly often worried over charger reliability or range. And the big proof point lies in the whopping 92% of EV drivers who would recommend EVs to friends and family, with only 4% wanting to go back to petrol or diesel. I struggle to think of another product with such strong high favourability – for reference, the most popular brand surveyed by YouGov this year was Maltesers, at 91%, with Apple at a distant 62%.
The EV numbers above come from the 2023 EVA England Charging Survey, which we are currently conducting again until mid-August. Alongside other fantastic surveys, it is one of the main tools in the ‘FUDbusting’ arsenal to counter this slew of negativity, ease the uncertainty of future car buyers, and show just how popular these products are. They also help educate MPs, ministers and civil servants, which is crucial to better understand what policies we need to see to help the EV transition. If you would like to take a deeper dive into last year’s survey you can find the results here, and you can help fill out this year’s survey here.
James Court will chair a session entitled ‘Trade association takeover’ at this year’s Transport + Energy Forum. You can view the agenda here and book your place at https://transportandenergy.com/t-e-forum-2024/
