Shift Magazine - February 2022 - 7

manager of automobile sales said demand
is " a little out of whack " with the number
of EVs coming to market - but the industry
is getting ready for regulatory deadlines
expected in the next decade that
will force changes.
In December, President Joe Biden
signed an executive order that will end
U.S. government purchases of gasoline-powered
vehicles
by
2035.
The
European Union also is considering rules
that would ban the sale of non-zero-emission
vehicles there by 2035.
SLOW TRANSITION
With these targets in mind, automakers
are slowly but surely getting their
lineups of EVs ready as they talk about
phasing out gasoline-powered vehicles.
The big unknown is how customers will
respond.
Customer surveys repeatedly show
that once someone buys an EV, they are
likely to be pleased with it, but not everyone
is ready to make the leap. In 2020,
2.1 million all-electric vehicles were sold
worldwide, according to data from LMC
Automotive. That number more than doubled
to 4.5 million in 2021. J.D. Power's
2022 U.S. Electric Vehicle Experience
Ownership Study found that new EV
owners were " highly " satisfied with their
cars, scoring 754 on J.D. Power's 1,000point
scale.
But this won't be a quick shift.
Deloitte's
2022
Global
Automotive
Consumer Study found that 69 percent of
U.S. consumers expect their next car to
be an internal combustion engine vehicle
and that 53 percent won't pay more than
a $500 premium to go electric.
Consumers have been saying simthings
for a decade.
ilar
In a survey
conducted in late 2010 and early 2011
by the International Council on Clean
Transportation,
for example,
the " vast
majority " of consumers expected a new
EV to cost less than $30,000. Similarly,
Consumer Reports found that 87 percent
of respondents to its 2012 Car Brand
Perception Survey said they had some
form of concern with plug-in cars.
But
things are
changing. Gruber
said recent EV introductions into new
CEO Akio Toyoda presents Toyota's
" showroom of the future. " The automaker
plans to roll out 30 BEVs by 2030.
inadequate at this point in time. Ten years
from now, you're going to remove some
of those barriers to consideration that will
drive adoption and make somebody want
to purchase that electric vehicle without
that hesitation. "
Gruber also pointed to electric luxury
CEO Makoto Uchida, left, and COO
Ashwani Gupta said Nissan Motor Co.'s
mobility plan includes the launch of 23
electrified vehicles by fiscal year 2030.
segments, including pickups and crossovers
from longtime brands customers
trust, are inviting in shoppers.
INFRASTRUCTURE ISSUES
Looking forward, alleviating what
Jamie Hamilton, director of strategy and
operations in the U.K. Automotive sector
for Deloitte,
called
" charge
anxiety "
should be high on the industry's list of
things to get done. Gruber also said infrastructure
is key.
" Ten years from now, when everyone
sees a charging station on every
corner like they do gas stations, that may
remove [EV buying] hesitation, " he said.
" We take the data that we have today and
know that [the infrastructure is] woefully
cars as a way to increase interest in EVs.
While EV sales make up just 3 percent of
the overall market in the U.S. today, they
account for approximately 20 percent in
the premium segment. The high-tech features
in EVs from Tesla and other brands
- over-the-air updates, built-in voice
assistants, automated-driving technology
- is creating interest in mass-market
EVs as well.
" Electric vehicles are the playground for
new technologies, " he said. " Consumers
see what [automakers are] doing in that
space and I think that's trickling down to
other products, whether it's premium or
mass-market. "
Hamilton said getting customers to pay
for these new features could be a way to
sell more EVs without always incurring
sticker shock.
" One of the things from the surveys that
we've seen is how much would people
pay more for certain features, " he said.
" [Consumers] have consistently said they
won't pay a lot more for an EV, but they
will pay more for some of the value-add
software or experiential things. " n
february 2022 * shift
7
Shift Magazine - February 2022

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