Consumers are beginning to embrace electric vehicles, but there’s a huge information gap that automakers will need to overcome.
That was made clear during Toyota’s E-volution event, where the company revealed a stunning statistic that shows how little most people know about EVs.
As part of an electric vehicle awareness study in 2019, people were asked an incredibly simple question – Does a BEV have a gas engine? The answer is obviously no, but 66% of respondents said yes.
Also Read: Survey Finds 41% Of Consumers Want Their Next Car To Be Electrified
The question was asked again this year and the results were the same as 66% of people still believe electric vehicles have a gas engine. This is surprising as electric vehicles have gone mainstream and previous studies have shown that over 70% of people would consider buying one in the future.
3 Out Of 4 Consumers Think Hybrids Need To Be Plugged In
Sadly, that wasn’t the only surprising finding from the study. When people were asked whether or not hybrids need to be plugged in to be driven, a whopping 75% or 3 out of 4 respondents said yes. That’s obviously wrong as you can simply hop in a hybrid and go.
Toyota officials admitted this particular statistic is frustrating as the company launched the Prius over two decades ago. It’s even more surprising when you consider the automaker offers an extensive lineup of hybrids that includes the aforementioned Prius as well as the Avalon, Corolla, Camry, Highlander, Sienna, RAV4 and Venza.
However, it’s easy to see how some consumers might be confused about hybrids given the existence of plug-in hybrids. That being said, you don’t even need to plug-in a plug-in hybrid. You should, but you don’t need too.
To address the information gap, Toyota is trying to educate consumers about electrified vehicles and the differences that separate their various hybrid, plug-in hybrid, electric and fuel-cell powertrains. Dealers play an important role in this discussion, but the automaker has already launched a dedicated learning hub that teaches shoppers some of the basics via educational videos. We can expect more on this front as the company prepares to launch the electric bZ4X.
