Focusing On Climate Change Too Much Might Slow EV Adoption – CleanTechnica

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A recent article at Forbes explains that environmentalism might not be the best thing to focus on when selling EVs. While this may seem like a “duh” kind of thing, it affects more than what the salesman at the dealer tells people about EVs. Everything from how the vehicles are built to how activists approach them are all part of the question.

The article starts out by pointing out the rather large and noticeable changes we’ve seen from Elon Musk. At one point, he was all about the future of humanity, telling us that he cared about the future of Earth and the future of humanity. It felt like Tesla helped with Plan A, while SpaceX is the key to Plan B (making life multiplanetary). But, more recently, Musk has been parroting and amplifying all sorts of right-wing talking points, and has even endorsed Donald Trump, a decidedly anti-EV, anti-renewables candidate.

The article speculates on whether departing from the environmental angle like this was a good idea, but fell short of approving of Elon Musk’s whole package of ideas. It goes on to explain that at Electrify Expo in Denver, product pitches that relied on climate change and a moral imperative to go electric were completely absent from company spaces and messaging. But, at the same time, there were plenty of pitches for plugin hybrids and an emphasis on customer choice.

The article (likely correctly) points out that for early adopters, the environmental differences were the big draw. But, for mainstream buyers, this situation has changed, at least as far as manufacturers and promoters are concerned.

Is This The Right Approach?

It would be foolish to deny that the main part of the argument here is false. Obviously, early adopters and mainstream buyers have very different concerns. Early adopters wanted to save the planet for the most part, but there were also many of us who loved that instant low-end torque more than anything. Even early on in the modern EV times since the Model S, Tesla didn’t push too hard on climate goals as the main selling point, which is probably part of what made EV sales boom.

There’s also the issue of negative messaging. Nobody likes to hear bad things all the time. Fear-based sales can be very effective, but we also have to keep in mind that for many people, a vehicle is just a transportation appliance. While there are definite savings involved if you buy the right EV compared to a similar ICE vehicle, the downsides of initial cost, charging installation, and slower fueling on road trips scare people off. After all, if only about 6% of the population can be bothered to get a 3-day supply of food and water together for emergencies, who’s going to want to buy an EV to save the planet?

So, yes, other aspects of the EV experience will need to be emphasized, while the downsides (especially infrastructure) need to be smoothed out.

It Can Go Too Far, Though

While avoiding fear- and guilt-based sales for EVs can be a good idea, it’s possible to take the idea of going easy on people too far and completely abandon EVs.

There already seems to be some serious problems with manufacturers doing this. Instead of selling people on EVs and trying to move the business forward to be globally competitive and take advantage of economies of scale in global supply chains, vehicle manufacturers in the United States have taken an “it doesn’t matter” approach in some ways. Things like “As electric as you want to be” seem to be the message, emphasizing that electric is just some choice you make, like choosing between burritos and hamburgers at lunch.

This, combined with loosening regulations for EVs that let plugin hybrids count for about 3/4 of an EV, naturally steers buyers toward plugin hybrids instead of steering them toward EVs.

Balance Is Needed

The obvious answer to this is that it needs to be balanced better. Not frightening people away with nerdy concerns over climate change matters, but taking that to the extreme and not injecting any urgency into going electric at all is a mistake. The customer-facing side of this will have to differ from the business side.

On the customer side, it’s going to have to be all about the benefits to the buyer: cost savings (I’ll come back to this more in a bit), performance, energy independence, resilience to disasters, energy storage, and only last — the environment. By starting with why the vehicle is good for the buyer and ending with other benefits, the other benefits still get some time for those who care about that enough.

On the company side, there still needs to be a concerted effort to move forward with EVs. Going where US political winds blow would be a terrible mistake, as this could leave automakers struggling to adapt again in the future when the pendulum swings back (assuming it even goes that far to the anti-EV side). With much of the rest of the world going electric instead of placating the oil industry, it won’t make economic sense to have US ICE and plugin hybrid vehicles versus global EVs. This makes profit harder for any company that does that long term.

It also makes sense for companies to disengage from rent-seeking behavior, like making political donations with expectation of favors. Not only is that playing with fire, but it weakens the company in the long run by making it dependent on government favors instead of great products.

The Almighty Dollar Is King

Finally, let’s re-emphasize the importance of the biggest selling point: dollars and cents.

If companies want to sell EVs, it’s extremely important to make sure customers are steered to the option that best fits their situation. For many people, a PHEV might make some sense for the next few years, as the average driver only drives a couple dozen miles on an average day and only occasionally takes a road trip. Plugged in at night, this makes for maximum savings while minimizing disruptions. But, for people who drive a lot of miles locally, an EV makes the most sense, as it minimizes costs and impacts.

Either way, going for the top concern with an eye for increasing EV sales and EV miles driven makes sense. Anything else, like wishy-washy “as electric as you want to be” nonsense, just isn’t going to work out long term.

Featured image: public domain image showing extreme temperatures.