Why this is interesting: helping people define enough can speed the path to EV adoption for both manufacturers and consumers.
If you hadn’t noticed, EV manufacturers are locked in an arms race for range, vying to outdo one another by adding bigger, heavier, and more expensive batteries. However, a new study by researchers at the University of Geneva suggests that the effort may be in vain. They show that one of the biggest potential unlocks for driving the transition to EVs is not increasing the range of vehicles, but changing peoples minds about how much range they really need.
Running counter to the dominant marketing narratives about EV’s lower cost of ownership, environmental benefits or ICE-matching performance, the findings suggest that people are more likely to buy an EV if they can develop an accurate understanding of the amount of range their daily activities require.
The study showed that participants underestimated by up to 30% the number of activities an EV could support. When those same participants were given personalised information about how much range they’d actually need - and it turns out that 200 kms covered 90% of their needs - they were willing to spend more on an EV, and accept less overall range to boot. All of a sudden, Mazda’s charming MX-30 - widely pilloried for it’s 209 km range - looks like the definition of elegant sufficiency.
In a rational world, this insight might be the key to a manufacturer/consumer win-win. It suggests that OEMs can develop vehicles with smaller batteries, lower weight and lower cost, and consumers can get access to cheaper EVs, sooner.
But the success of this approach hinges on the willingness of those same OEMs to educate consumers on what is enough. In an industry which sells, for the most part, on more is more and less is a bore, it’ll take a brave team to pursue a message of less is enough.
Thanks to: @johnvoelker for sharing the original link.
Image: Mazda
For more on this topic, check out these episodes of The Next Billion Seconds, where I speak with futurist Mark Pesce, designer Sally Dominguez, and on the second link, EV expert Richard Hackforth-Jones: