You don’t have to plug-in a Prius?
Hybrid and EV sales aren’t an easy sell
A plug-in hybrid can use both gas and electricity? A Toyota Prius doesn’t have to be plugged-in?
While those sound like silly questions to fans of hybrid and plug-in vehicles, many average US new car consumers are confused by those questions, and many would answer those questions wrong according to a new study.
And that’s just a sample of this battery-powered confusion.
Even worse, market research by Synovate suggests this lack of understanding is limiting the sales of hybrid cars and could have an even greater impact on the sales of plug-in vehicles.
“This low level of understanding about the way in which electric powertrain vehicles work will have profound consequences for vehicle sales,” Stephen Popiel, senior vice president of Synovate Motoresearch, said in a statement. “In the short term, dealers will have to spend an inordinate amount of time explaining the workings of PHEVs and BEVs to interested buyers. We have to wonder if consumers will become disillusioned when they understand the actual requirements of electric vehicles.”
Source: GreenCarAdvisor