8:04 am, May 25, 2023
Women are being put off buying electric cars leading to a widening ‘gender gap’ in the EV market, claims a new report.
The research says a number of factors are ‘inadvertently excluding’ women from switching to electric cars.
It calls on car dealers and manufacturers for better targeted marketing and says they need to tackle fears over charging and battery life.
The car industry also needs to focus on the economic benefits of owning an EV to attract more women buyers to showrooms
The report by Auto Trader says the fact few female motorists are considering EVs could be ‘a blocker to mass adoption’ as the government’s 2030 deadline to ban the sale of petrol and diesel cars approaches.
Auto Trader’s research surveyed 4,000 motorists across the UK and found that 70 per cent of women reported they don’t trust car dealerships and 43 per cent said they don’t trust car brands.
A third of men said they were considering an electric car compared to just one fifth of women.
Auto Trader editorial director Erin Baker said: ‘You’d be forgiven for assuming the advent of electric cars, with their more lifestyle-oriented stories around sustainable materials, enhanced services and carbon footprints, would fundamentally change women’s relationship with cars for the better.
‘And yet, as our new data shows, the gender gap is widening.
‘Addressing the issues raised in this report should help a large chunk of UK drivers to feel confident enough to take that leap. Without action, adoption will falter.’
The report says that one of the main issues is the way electric cars are marketed. Safety is a key priority for female buyers, while technology and the lifestyle EVs offer, usually the focus in EV ads, is not.
Women are also poorly informed on the financial benefits of running an electric car, says the report.
Meanwhile, the influx of new Chinese EV brands is also causing confusion. Auto Trader predicts the new Chinese challenger brands will grow from a one per cent market share today to some 18 per cent by 2030.
However, women are more focused on familiar brands. Of the new brands including Nio, Lucid, BYD and Ora – men were all more likely to have heard of them than women.
To tackle the gender gap, Auto Trader says the car industry needs to target marketing in places where women are ‘already shopping’ including in lifestyle publications and on social media.
The report calls for a universal system to monitor and compare battery health so buyers can make informed decisions.
And it also reports test drives for women are vital as many buyers called this the ‘eureka’ moment when they converted to EV.
One female buyer Auto Trader spoke to as part of its research was concerned about the added stress an EV would add to her life.
Kirsten Snelling, 34, from Falconwood, said: ‘I know charging at home is easy but if anything goes wrong there could be big consequences, especially when travelling with kids.
‘It already feels like, more often than not, it’s the woman of the household that carries the mental load for the family, and this is just another thing to remember that I know will fall to me.’
Baker added: ‘We need to address the specific concerns of women around EVs. Prioritise what women will get for their money rather than extolling the virtues of going green.
‘Explain what lower running costs mean rather than advertising the benefits of new technology. Women have different points of engagement.’
You can read the full research at the nodriverleftbehind.co.uk website.
