Adding empathy to the electric equation: The key to driving growth in 2024

Whether it is misattributed vehicle fires, the ill-informed views of actors or just scare stories about ownership, this last year has seen a sharp increase in negative stories surrounding electric vehicles.

Whilst such articles no doubt attract views for their respective titles, the main outcome of these articles is the spread of Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt (FUD) among consumers. But FUD isn’t exclusively due to the media, consumers do have legitimate concerns about EV ownership.

Previously, our approach as an industry has been to tell consumers that they are simply wrong and say that electric cars can work for them. But this approach isn't working. Consumers are not engaging, they don’t get it, they’re not hearing the positives and for many, barriers outweigh benefits. It's for these reasons that we’ve seen new electric retail sales stall, with just 1 in 10 new retail sales now electric.

So, we need to change our approach and our research outlined in this blog points to one key ingredient we need to add to the EV communication mix: empathy.

But to understand how we use empathy we first need to understand if consumers believe they are ready for an EV.

Most consumers believe they aren’t ready for an electric vehicle

Our survey of 4,000 UK car buyers found that, whilst 46% of consumers would consider an electric car, only 1 in 10 stated that their next car would be electric. And those considering an electric car are already in the same demographic as those who already own an EV i.e., older, wealthier, with a driveway. This is not the mainstream majority that we need to be engaged with EVs.

The story is different when we look at consumer’s readiness to own an EV, with over half of consumers stating that they simply aren’t ready for an EV, yet. Many of these Not Ready consumers will one day buy an EV, just not as their next car or two.

And of the electric owners, the vast majority will stick with electric next time round.

So, what’s important is to persuade as many as possible of the Ready to buy in their next change. It’s this cohort we need to go after and convince, reassure, nudge, etc into purchasing, but FUD, if unchecked, will still hold many of these buyers back from making the switch.

FUD building barriers to entry

There is work to do to convince the majority that an electric vehicle is right for them. But our research also found that even among those cohorts that are very likely to consider an EV, there is still a significant amount of FUD holding buyers back. Among those with a driveway, we see concerns around cost and charging. We also know many consumers are concerned about reliability and it’s these concerns that are fuelling FUD.

Recent policy changes have also done little to help combat FUD. Whilst the recent delay on the 2030 ban on the sale of new ICE vehicles has had no immediate impact on interest in electric cars on our platform, it has exacerbated the levels of FUD among those consumers not already considering an EV, with 37% of surveyed consumers saying they are now unlikely to ever buy an EV.

How we can drive growth in 2024

Whilst there are certainly barriers that need to be addressed to drive adoption, there is cause for optimism in the near term.

We know that interest in EVs correlates with the price of petrol and diesel, and right now these fuel prices are on the up. This has contributed to the sharp uptick in leads for EVs on our platform that we’ve seen in the last two months.

With prices of used electric vehicles dropping consistently across most of 2023, consumer interest has spiked, driving interest in used EVs to record highs. Used EVs are now the fastest-selling of any fuel type, taking an average of just 26 days to leave retailer forecourts. And whilst new EV prices continue to be 33% higher than their equivalent ICE vehicle, over two-thirds of new electric vehicles are offering a discount or finance offer in October 2023, meaning that in some cases, monthly payment prices are approaching price parity. The used electric market shows that when the price is right, electric cars sell so we expect this will get more “readies” to switch to an electric car.

When it comes to charging, we see that many consumers believe that it won't necessitate a significant change in their lifestyle, with 80% of EV-ready consumers having figured out how EV ownership, including charging can fit into their lifestyle.

The pace of infrastructure development is also cause for optimism with rapid progress being made in the last 19 months. We are now on target to hit 100,000 charge points by August 2025.

There are then plenty of reasons to be positive and it's these positives that need to be communicated to consumers to fight the FUD and regain momentum into 2024.

But it's not enough to just push the positives.

We have to change the narrative to effectively fight the FUD and we need to follow these simple steps to help drive adoption in the years ahead:

·        Laser-like focus, we need to work together now more than ever

·        Be consistent in what we say and what we ask for

·        Show very clearly and simply what it’s like to own an EV

·        Explain the benefits and the real basics

·        Bring balance to the narrative

But we have to do all this with empathy. As someone once said “If I am wrong, educate me. Don’t belittle me”