Other renewables

Smartphone Users Most Likely to Purchase Electric Vehicles

A new web-based survey conducted with 1,046 men and women in the U.S. found that potential EV drivers in the next two years were more inclined to be involved in online activities, use technology to enhance their driving experience, and use a smartphone. In fact, among this group, 20.5% owned an iPhone with. Additionally, being able to use all of their smartphone apps in the EV would have a positive influence on an EV purchase for 52.9% of respondents.

The Zpryme EV consumer survey findings help confirm that the seamless connection of EV telematics and the smartphone (the EV nerve center) is not only vital to the future connectivity for this next generation of autos, but more importantly to the satisfaction of meeting consumer’s need to be ‘constantly connected’.

The survey is only one component of the industry-first report, The Electric Vehicle Study that was developed by Zpryme with sponsorship from Airbiquity. The study contains four chapters that explore: the consumer, the EV ecosystem, EV market value and segmentation, and EV opportunities. At the core of this study was the collaboration of the most respected resources in the EV world; companies such as: Boston Power, BPL Global, Brammo Motorcycles, CODA Automotive, ECOtality, Itron, Northeast Utilities, PEP Stations, Smart Grid Library, Southern California Edison, and the WiMAX Forum

Among the EV consumer survey findings:

The Chevrolet Volt (53.1%) was the most popular model, followed by the Ford Focus EV (49.1%), Nissan Leaf (30.8%), and Tesla Roadster.

Zpryme predicts EV adoption to be driven by three core groups of EV consumers:

‘EV Evangelists’ will make up the majority of EV drivers
‘EV Brand Loyalists’ will enter the market in 2 – 3 years
‘EV Sideliners’ (‘wait and see’ group) will purchase an EV in 4 – 5 years

Respondents were asked to pick the top two reasons that would convince them to buy an electric vehicle. Their number one factor was vehicle price (64.5%).
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When purchasing a vehicle, over two-thirds (68.5%) use information from the internet, followed (in order) by: dealerships (44.8%), Kelly Blue Book (40.3%), and Consumer Reports (35.1%).

Usage of an EV as a primary vehicle would more often be the choice of 77.7% of the people, while 22.3% said an EV would become a secondary vehicle.

Four-fifths (83.7%) said they would rather buy than lease (16.3%) an EV.

Less than half (40.6%) reported they would be willing to pay a premium to rent an electric vehicle.

EV market values and segmentation also identified in the study:

The EV charging infrastructure market is projected grow from $746.3 million in 2011 to $3.95 billion in 2016. This represents a compound annual growth rate of 39.5% during this time period.

Annual EV/PHEV unit sales are projected grow by 36.2% annually from 2011 to 2016, from 43,400 to 203,200. By 2016, the total EV/PHEV stock is projected to reach 730,700 in 2016 in the U.S.

www.airbiquity.com.