New Harris Poll: More Than 25% of Car Owners Plan PHEV as Next Car
In the AutoTECHCASTSM study, 27% of U.S. vehicle owners said they were likely (13%), very likely (8%) or extremely likely (6%) to make a PHEV their next vehicle.
When told there would be a $3,200 price premium, the consideration rate dropped to a total of 16%.
Males and females were equally likely to include the technology in their next vehicle, while entry SUV owners (45%) showed the most interest in plug-in hybrid technology compared to other vehicle type owners.
The data was collected via the Internet from June 28 to July 18, 2007 and included nearly 10,000 U.S. vehicle owners.
On the flip side of this study, it was demonstrated that a full 47% of respondents were not at all familiar with the PHEV technology, this was true for 40% of males and 56% of females.
For those who were at least likely to purchase a plug-in, 84% said they would prefer plugging in the car in overnight, whereas only 7% said they would prefer a once-a-week gas fill-up.
You can review the details of of the study results yourself here: (HARRIS POLL)
It is interesting that only a minority of people see the value of this technology, and that nearly half the population have no idea about it.
We need to get the word out. Any thoughts, ideas?
Popularity: 2%
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19 Responses to “New Harris Poll: More Than 25% of Car Owners Plan PHEV as Next Car”
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September 28th, 2007 at 10:33 am
I talk about the volt constantly. My coworkers are very tired of hearing about it but like the idea.
September 28th, 2007 at 10:52 am
voltman - you are not alone I’m just as boring too
We have plenty of people to inform.
Once GM start advertising it will change, however, it would be great for more people to know sooner so that GM could confidently produce more Volts in the first few years.
If I see someone admiring a car in the street, I stop and tell them.
I am actually shocked that even 40% of drivers know about PHEV. I suspect by “know” they have heard about it, and just know it is some sort of greener hybrid, but most don’t really know.
If the survey asked those being surveyed “Would you tell me what a plugin hybrid vehicle is?” and then only proceeded with those that got the answer right, it might give a more realistic picture.
However, if only 5 or 10% are going to be planning on a PHEV that is a huge market with only a couple of cars available. GM won’t even be making enough Volts in first year to cover 5% of US new car sales.
September 28th, 2007 at 10:54 am
I think the best way is to let the word spread slowly, naturally. If we make too big of a fuss about them before a model is actually ready then people will get turned off and lose interest. Just bring them up in conversation or try to incorporate them into articles or papers you may write. A lot of people will only care about cost. For me, its about freedom and energy security. It’s about uncoupling mobility from its dependence on gasoline/liquid fuels.
September 28th, 2007 at 10:55 am
I also discuss this Volt with all my friends. I think that if we had a system in place on this web sight where we could just click and send all the news on the Volt it would help.
September 28th, 2007 at 11:30 am
We talk about it a lot in our IT department. A few of us are holding out until 2010 to buy a new car BECAUSE of the Volt. I talk about it at home with friends and family. Word of mouth is just as important as TV, radio, and print advertising.
September 28th, 2007 at 11:34 am
While understandable if you are poor, it still amazes me how drastically the percentages dropped when people were asked if they would pay a small premium for a plugin. For some reason people keep holding hybrids to ridiculously strict price standards.
The internet is full of idiots who spout on and on about how expensive and wasteful hybrid technology is, all the while ignoring the premiums we are constantly paying for brands, luxuries, cargo space, and power we don’t even need. Also ignored are two huge facts: we are too dependent on foreign fuel right now, and fuel will be much more expensive in the future.
Not only are there too many people on this planet, but too many of them are morons.
September 28th, 2007 at 11:37 am
The best advertisement that will work on people’s thick skulls will be $4/gallon gasoline.
If people would pay attention to oil industry tax subsidies and government spending they would realize that they are currently probably paying more than this already.
September 28th, 2007 at 11:43 am
Oh, and people don’t mind paying thousands of more dollars by only buying brand new cars without even considering used, getting new ones every 3-4 years, and taking them to the dealer to be serviced, and paying for warranties guaranteed to fleece them. But oh no, hybrid technology has to pay for itself in 2 years or they won’t consider it! Makes me want to be a hermit.
September 28th, 2007 at 11:57 am
These numbers will reverse over the next 2-3 years once people learn that they can buy the electricity for about $.75 per “gallon” while charging overnight.
Everyone was once afraid of flight.
September 28th, 2007 at 12:12 pm
Good american-made electricity
Another advantage of the electrification of vehicles will be the consolodation of our total energy usage to pretty much just electricity while simultaneously increasing electrical storage. These two effects combined will ACCELERATE the feasibility (return on investment) of alternative energy production, especially the intermittent types.
Huge solar array power plants and a couple of solar panels on your roof will both make more sense when cars are electrified. When you think about the huge range of processes that can make electricity and the ease of electrical power transmission, this paints a very bright picture.
September 28th, 2007 at 12:35 pm
How about ways to keep us more informed, since we will be the ones disseminating the information to others?
1. Email alerts when a new article is posted here.
2. Daily summaries of new postings in a single email.
September 28th, 2007 at 1:14 pm
I don’t think it is essential for people to know about it until it actually is produced. The results from the early adopters will make headline news fairly shortly after the first rollout. Even then most people will not care about the inner workings of a PHEV. The only difference for the everyday Joe is that you plug it in the wall instead of pumping gas.
September 28th, 2007 at 1:26 pm
…And that would be me the average Joe. I don’t really care about the tech mumbo-jumbo I just want a good car that can get me from a to b maybe even z without costing me an arm and a leg to operate. And this car seems like it can get the job done.
September 28th, 2007 at 2:03 pm
I too was surprised that so many people know about PHEVs this early in the game. As the Volt moves closer to a production date, PHEV technology will no doubt be talked about more in the media (I could see the Volt on the cover of Newsweek, Time, Wired, etc.) As this occurs, there will remain only a small minority that do not know about PHEVs.
Considering how fast standard hybrids like the Prius have been accepted, I don’t see any problems with the public embracing PHEVs, like the Volt, either.
Until then, we need to be talking to all of our friends and family about the technology. Also, this website (disclaimer: yes I made it) details some of the main benefits of PHEV tech: http://www.thecaseforpluginhybrids.com
September 28th, 2007 at 3:21 pm
This article confirms 3 points I’ve been making for a while:
1) Most people don’t know about PHEVs.
2) Once people fully understand PHEVs, most want one.
3) The people who want PHEVs the most want small crossover SUVs.
As far as getting the word out about PHEVs, I’m sure all of us here are doing our part, but paid advertising will make a much bigger impact. The way I would advertise the Volt is with numbers:
- 40 miles on batteries
- 600 miles on gasoline
- 75 cents/gallon in electric mode
If they can pound these 3 numbers into everyones’ heads, people will “get it”, and initial sales will soar.
September 28th, 2007 at 5:02 pm
My suggestion is some form of cultural integration: Like integrating it into the plot of a movie about the future, or putting it into the plot of a sitcom episode. I think people could learn alot about it if the information was spread that way. Make it subtle, but so subtle that the point is missed. An example, though it’s about the death of the trolley car by being replaced by buses and cars (thanks to GM, unfortunately), is “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” If you know about that movie and the subject, you may also be aware that, even though it is a movie, it has actually been used a significant number of times in academic papers on the subject. Just one idea among many, though. And the more information out there will result in more demand, which could be bad for early adopters because it will raise the price, but good for the manufacturers and dealers. I’m sure that this the future, any way it goes, though.
September 28th, 2007 at 6:22 pm
Steven - I agree man. GM should arrange for the Volt to be in the next Transformers movie along side their other vehicles.
September 29th, 2007 at 4:27 am
With only 60 thousand slated for production, I don’t think they will need to advertise until 6 months after the Volt comes out.
In the mean time other elective vehicles will be coming and people will be slowly getting more info on the subject. They are going to sell out the volt the first go round anyway. Then once people have more than just a hyped up commercial promising the moon then they will really take notice like the did with the parallel hybrids.
I think the hold up on production for the first couple of years will not be how many they can sell or how many they can make but how many batteries they can have manufactured.
Just speculation on my part.
September 29th, 2007 at 8:42 pm
I get excited talking about the Volt and other future electric vehicles, but I think it bores other people. People seem to think electric cars are some kind on nerd toy. Probable because so many electric vehicles of the past were dorky looking and impractical. I try to explain the new technology, but people aren’t going to get it until they see use driving our new Volts around.