EVs: will misinformation and unreasonable expectations affect sales?

Two separate surveys polling consumers on their opinions and knowledge of electric and hybrid vehicles lead to believe that people may be much slower to adopt these vehicles than planned. The respective conclusions show that the population is misinformed and has unrealistic expectations.

The first survey was conducted by Synovate, who found that the lack of consumer knowledge regarding the different types of hybrid and electric power trains could very negatively affect sales.

Chevrolet Volt (Photo: Luc Gagné/Auto123.com)

Here are a few findings from the study, the goal of which was to evaluate the knowledge of those polled about the fundamental operation of electric hybrids, plug-in hybrids and EVs:

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• Only 33% of people know that electric hybrids can only be powered by an electric engine.
• Most people surveyed don’t think plug-in hybrids use gas, either by themselves or combined with an electric engine.
• As for EVs, people seem to know more about them than the other types of vehicles, but there is still general confusion surrounding emissions and charging times.

A second survey conducted by Deloitte and exclusively emphasizing electric vehicles revealed that 75% of Canadians don’t want an electric car unless it can be charged in less than 4 hours and presents an operating range of at least 480 km on a single charge.

What’s more, 80% of those polled say that unless the price of fuel skyrockets to $2.10 per litre, there is no economic reason for them to purchase one.


_{Source: Synovate, The Globe and Mail}