How do we engage the early majority of EV buyers?

This year, we headed to the EV Summit to share our views, along with those of a panel made up of experts from VinFast, Tesla and Wink Car, on what needs to be done to engage the early majority of EV buyers.

Cost is key

Andrew Pilkington, Mark Smith and Joanna Smith discuss how to drive EV adoption on a panel moderated by Auto Trader’s Laura Harvey at the EV Summit 2024.

Andrew Pilkington, former CEO of VinFast UK, highlighted that new EV sales have largely been driven by fleet sales with company car schemes a key driver as business-in-kind proves a key incentive for many buyers. In his view, new car pricing needs to be addressed to drive new car sales.

There is some movement being seen on price with Mark Smith, head of fleet sales & certified pre-owned at Tesla, confirming Tesla’s plans for a sub £25k EV in the coming years.

New entrants will also help to drive prices down as legacy manufacturers look to compete on price with new entrants, predominantly from China, that are offering low-cost new EVs. However, there remains a question on whether we will see tariffs applied to new entrant brands which would harm the drive towards more affordable new EVs.

The used market does offer more affordable options to get into an EV and we are seeing brands working to support the used market, with Tesla now offering a certified pre-owned programme to provide buyers with more peace of mind when buying a used Tesla.

But as Joanna Smith, co-founder of independent retailer Wink Cars pointed out, whilst lower prices are enticing some buyers to used EVs, the mass market is still lacking in confidence when it comes to EVs.

 

We need to change the narrative

There has been a great deal of negative rhetoric in the media around and retailers, such as Wink Cars, have seen this impact the confidence of potential EV buyers. Joanna stated that we need to be doing much more to get the positive messages around EVs out there i.e. better total cost of ownership, and environmental impact but that we shouldn’t just be relying on the press to do this. Rather she believes that we need to see more stories from peers about their EV ownership experience, whether public figures or voices from the EV community, to change the dial on consumer confidence.

When looking at new and used buyers, Mark sees used buyers as being far more sceptical around EVs than new buyers. Partly this is down to used EVs, as with used cars in general, missing out on some of the benefits of buying new, such as extended warranties. He believes that such things need to be offered on used EVs to instil confidence among buyers and drive uptake.

He also states that the process for buying a used EV needs to mirror that of buying new, with buyers taken through the benefits and guided through the ownership experience of an EV. Sounds simple but the panel agrees that there is a knowledge gap in retail, with used retailers having less experience of EVs than new retailers who benefit from manufacturer training.

It's not just about educating the buyer

Whilst work needs to be done to continue to educate buyers on the benefits of EVs, there needs to be more effort put into to educating retailers on EVs so that they are better able to share the ownership experience with consumers.

Andrew pointed to the stark difference when looking at the experience of buying from a direct-to-consumer brand such as Tesla and Polestar. These brands have spaces with teams enthusiastic about EVs and extremely knowledgeable about the product. In contrast, traditional retailers often have a multitude of brands and legacy ICE vehicles and so lack knowledge about EVs which may impact the buying process for consumers.

Speaking as an independent retailer, Joanna spoke about their own knowledge gaps and the need for more readily available information on EVs from brands, something Tesla is now actively working on with industry open days. There does remain a lack of clarity on warranties for used EVs with Joanna concerned about the impact of batteries going wrong under warranty and the impact that could have on independent retailers.

She believes the industry needs to work on clear answers to such issues and on giving the wider industry the knowledge and tools they need to effectively communicate the benefits of EVs to consumers.

Only when this is achieved will we see the early majority of buyers making the switch to an EV.