Study – US consumers don’t understand hybrids and plug-ins
You don't have to plug-in a Prius?
Hybrid and EV sales aren’t an easy sell
A plug-in hybrid can use both gas and electricity? A Toyota Prius doesn’t have to be plugged-in?
While those sound like silly questions to fans of hybrid and plug-in vehicles, many average US new car consumers are confused by those questions, and many would answer those questions wrong according to a new study.
And that’s just a sample of this battery-powered confusion.
Even worse, market research by Synovate suggests this lack of understanding is limiting the sales of hybrid cars and could have an even greater impact on the sales of plug-in vehicles.
“This low level of understanding about the way in which electric powertrain vehicles work will have profound consequences for vehicle sales,” Stephen Popiel, senior vice president of Synovate Motoresearch, said in a statement. “In the short term, dealers will have to spend an inordinate amount of time explaining the workings of PHEVs and BEVs to interested buyers. We have to wonder if consumers will become disillusioned when they understand the actual requirements of electric vehicles.”
Source: GreenCarAdvisor
[...] 2012 – and is still offering Volts in a minority of dealerships. Consumers are leery, or at least uninformed about the value proposition of the PHEV. (anyone with direct Volt experience can help fill in the void by responding to a question about [...]
[...] here for Related LinksStudy – US consumers don’t understand hybrids and plug-ins – Hybrid Cars and Plug-in Veh… Posted in Hybrid-Cars | Tags: Are,, Hybrid, hybrid vehicle, hybrid vehicles, hybrid vehicles [...]
right… if I left the impression that 12 miles was the range – I was wrong.
but 12 miles and one presumes a 5-7K higher cost for the battery – when the “theory” is that the plug-in won’t be using $4.00 gasoline is not going to impress I don’t think and I suspect Toyota thinks the same thing because by now they surely know how to create a Prius Plug-in.
At the end of the day – a Prius Plug in with a 12 mile battery range is not going to be a cost-effective “step-up” from a regular Prius especially if the extra battery rate take away from gasoline efficiency.
I’m not hitting on Toyota here. They have a fine product with a stellar reputation – a cult aura.
but a Volt with a 40-mile plug-in range is going to be considered superior to a 12 mile battery range – and as far as that is concerned an ICE backup better than a battery-only car no matter the range unless that range is 300 miles and can be 100% recharged in about 15 minutes.
I note the less efficient nature of the Volt – not quite sure if it is a weight thing or a parallel verses series hybrid thing or GM’s particular implementation but I do think (and so does Wiki) that a straight series Hybrid has less parts and is less complicated than a parallel hybrid and other vehicle hybrids such as locomotives and ocean ships with azipods use series hybrid technology.
Not sure why Toyota went the parallel route over the series route.. more parts a more complicated but for such complex configurations especially first generation Toyota is one of the few car makers able to pull that off successfully and GM famous for version 1 innovation failures
so the question is and I suspect you know and/or have an opinion – without regard to brand – why is, in your view, the serial hybrid technology inferior to the parallel version?
It seems to be favored in ships and trains..so why not with cars?
Larry,
You’re way off on several issues regarding the plug-in Prius. The plug-in Prius has greater than 300 mile range “no matter what the status of the battery is”. It doesn’t have to be plugged-in after 12 miles.
A plug-in Prius simply functions just like a 50 mpg Prius after the EV range is depleted, which is significantly higher than the 37 mpg the Volt achieves after the battery is depleted. Additionally, the plug-in Prius offers greater total range than the Volt, and will cost less up front.
Every single consumer study in the US and Europe largely says the same. Most consumers don’t want to pay ANYTHING extra for either a hybrid or a plug-in hybrid. Still, there are a good percent of consumers that are willing to pay a little extra as long as payback is about 2 years, definitely less than 3.
Ultimately, vehicles like the Volt or the Prius can be great one-offs, but mainstream penetration – 20 or 30 percent market share, minimally in my opinion – will require the most bang for the buck. By 2020 Toyota believes its HSD – found in both the PRius and plug-in Prius – will make up between 20 and 30 percent of sale’s share.
I believe a lot of Americans, unfortunately, live a very paycheck to paycheck existence. To a large extent they don’t care how hybrids or plug-ins work. Instead, they care about costs and how much money they will save.
Unfortunately, that paycheck to paycheck existence also leads to easy disinformation campaigns. Most average voters only have time for soundbites and talking points. Both sides try to simplify complex issues, which makes the arguments of both sides suspect to those already hesitant to support.
And I’d extend your point much further, Indigo. Look at Congressional incumbency rates for the last 30 years. We have flipped-flopped at the top a bit, but overall the status quo has been in power for decades and continues to be in control.
There are millions of cars that are still using petrol in old fashion way. It takes time to change the policy in automotive industry and to use efficient and clean alternatives. I wonder how long does it take to Toyota (and the others) to get recover after this week’s terrible occurrences.
So your car gets 35 mpg in mixed driving. You have 1.5 gallon of gas in the tank and an 18 mile commute. Would you but gas on the way in, or wait to fill up when you get home?
What happens when your 30 minute commute takes 2 hours and it’s 105 deg F. Better bring some drinking water.
Indigo,
There’s a lot of truth in your post.
In the political arena we have been witnessing the largest dis-information campaign since Nazi Germany.
For reasons unknown to me, the same folks spreading disinformation about Obama, have been spreading similar misinformation about alternative vehicles.
I fail to understand why conservatives have such hatred for efficient vehicles. I lay part of the blame for that on the all the misinformation they are being fed…….
The fact that most Anericans don’t understand hybrids even after the cars have been around for nearly fifteen years doesn’t surprise me one bit. We’re talking about the same culture that elected Bush twice, elected the Tea Party, teaches Creationism as a “science”. Oh, and to top it all off, 1:4 Americans think Obama is a Kenyan-born Wahabi Muslim and an amazing 1:5 Americans actually think that the Sun revolves around the Earth.
So them not getting how hybrids work? VERY believable.
Larry,
You made a very clear argument of why the Prius is successful and why the Volt has potential.
The average American wants efficiency, but has no desire to sacrifice his lifestyle.
The cost will have to come down though. The average American is also not wiling to pay more for a car even if it does offer more efficiency without sacrificing lifestyle……..
My best is that the average consumer once they realize that a pure battery plug is a paperweight once it’s batter is depleted are not going to want that car – and the dangerous part here is that if the average consumer starts to believe that ALL hybrids have the same problem then the result won’t be good.
I think.. for better or worse – Chevrolet understood this point and that’s why they made sure the Volt had a 300 mile range no matter what the status of the battery is.
Folks keep saying that 10-15 miles matches many average commutes and local auto trips and that’s true but what they don’t understand is that when you get back home and then decide you want to go back out to a movie or restaurant and your EV is dead – it’s just not going to work.
What people want in a car is the ability to go where they want to go WHEN they want to go and anything less than that is going to be a major compromise in their lifestyle and that’s not even counting the extra money for the battery over the conventional ICE car.
This is the part that is missing from the advocacy for these cars and the questions about GM (and other companies) “marketing” strategies.
This is no magic here. GM knows that the average person is not going to be happy with a car than goes 12 miles and then need 4 hours of charge.
That’s not cynical greenwashing or dunderhead marketing in my view. It’s a very hard look at reality and if you think the Volt is going to be a bust – I’d challenge you to think of a Volt with a 12 mile range. It would literally be a laughing stock for GM. And I think it’s going to be a laughing stock for Toyota.
The average person is going to see the 12 mile range and they are going to wonder what planet Toyota is on.
And.. I think Toyota knows this also and that’s why we do not see a Toyota Plug-in even though they’ve been producing the Prius for a decade.