Can the all-electric car reach mass market appeal?

Who killed the electric car is a term you sometimes hear when referring to motor vehicles that run exclusively on electricity. With the environment issues being a big concern for our society today, many car manufacturing companies have developed hybrid vehicles. Hybrid Car being a vehicle that uses two different power sources to move the car, most commonly the internal combustion engine which uses gas fuel and an electric motor that uses.  The hybrid cars have gained popularity among consumers, especially the Toyota Prius, this has resulted in many car manufacturers developing hybrid vehicles to gain some market share.

However some come car manufacturers such as Honda, Nissan, Toyota, and Tesla to name a few have taken it a step further by producing purely electric vehicles that run only on electricity.  Electric cars are nothing new, being created in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s,  however gasoline fueled cars gained increased popularity and have captured the market ever since.

So what will it take for the Electric Car to reach mass market appeal? What do the managers at these huge car companies have to do. Many executives believe the electric car has to gain trust amongst car consumers. For now many consumers foresee a future with the hybrid car because of its driving range which drives a certain amount of miles on electric power then gasoline power takes over, which is fuel efficient.  Compared with the limited driving range of the electric vehicles.  There are a few factors which  limit electric cars from reaching mass market appeal. First the limited Driving Range of some of the electric vehicles and niche battery powered cohorts is a main factor  stopping consumers from buying into the technology. Another factor is the high initial price of many of the Electric Vehicles, many times being more costly than gasoline powered vehicles. One more huge factor is the unavailability of electric charging stations compared to gas stations. Going to a gas station is very convenient for consumers and that is what they are used to.

Nevertheless there is much advancement taking place with the electric vehicle technology and the availability of electric charging stations. John O’dell, and Edmund’s analyst predict the following would constitute an electric vehicle that could be mainstream: an electric car with a driving range of 150 miles that could be completely recharged in about 10 minutes or and electric car with a driving range  of 300 miles that could be completely recharged in 30 minutes. The price of these vehicles should be in the range $25,000 to $30,000, so it could somewhat affordable to middle-lower income comsumers. Also it was suggested that there be a good national network of electric vehicle charging stations so that it could be convenient to charge your car anywhere.

These are all great suggestions to making the electric car more appealing to the mass market and I definitely know I plan on getting one in the future, being a big environmental guy myself. However what would make you switch from Gasoline powered vehicle to purely Electric powered?

 

http://business.time.com/2013/01/29/what-would-make-an-all-electric-car-appeal-to-the-masses/

http://inventors.about.com/od/estartinventions/a/History-Of-Electric-Vehicles.htm

8 thoughts on “Can the all-electric car reach mass market appeal?

  1. In my opinion there will be not much to be done for this to appeal to the average consumer in a couple years. Gas prices will continue to rise and people will need a remedy. Until then, all that is needed is price and aesthetics. It is extremely popular to be environmentally friendly if it’s affordable and the car looks cool. It’s hard to assume someone will buy a car strictly for it’s features dealing with lowering people’s environmental foot print. I see a lot of great improvement with this and as technology progresses prices will decline and by that time there will only be 1 choice of car and that is electric. Lastly, I feel the future will yield customers paying a great deal for gasoline. I see the use of gasoline being strictly for activities like hobbies, military, manufacturing, and other similar. The average car driver will soon use only electric.

  2. I would love to make the switch from a gasoline powered car to an electric one. The major downside is of course the availability of charging stations while living in Illinois. If I were to move to someplace like California, the switch would be much easier with such an abundance of charing stations.
    I also believe that the culture of where someone lives will also affect their choice of vehicle. In many cases, people living in Chicago go for compact cars that can fit into tiny parallel parking spots. I have a couple of friends who live in Texas that laugh at my tiny car. They all invest into the huge trucks. To connect back to electric cars, a couple friends from California have electric cars because that is a part of their culture’s norm.

  3. Many people want to become more environmentally friendly, therefore, I think electric and hybrid cars have the ability to be very successful. However, if I had to pick one over the other that I think will ultimately do better in the market, I would pick the hybrid. People don’t like too much change, and relying on a car that strictly runs on electricity would be a huge difference for many. A lot of trust would have to be built with electric cars, as well as figuring out the charging stations. A hybrid car, however, gives people the ability to go both routes with electricity and gasoline.

  4. I think that the electric car can, and will become economically feasible for the mass market. The issue isn’t appeal, I think that most Americans would love to have an all-electric car right now, but the problem is that the product’s price has not yet caught up to it’s target market. Tesla is doing an amazing job with it’s new Model S which recently won MotorTrend’s car of the year award. With more of their supercharger stations (which will be used free-of-charge for Tesla owners) emerging, I think that once their Model X is introduced in 3-5 years, it will finally be affordable at ~$30k msrp, which is what CEO Elon Musk is planning. From PayPal to SpaceX to Tesla, I’m expecting Elon’s varied Tesla lineup with 100% electric power-trains to become the new standard. Change like this can’t happen overnight.

  5. I believe many of us have been wondering about the future of electric cars and if they will reach mass market demand. With the increase trend of being environmentally friendly and spread communication of its importance plus the constant increase in price of gasoline, will definitely but gradually lead to mass demand. Especially with the shortage of gasoline increasing, it will be crucial for consumers to use alternatives but there will be need to make lower price electric vehicles in order to make a mass change.

  6. Seeing as I prefer big cities, I feel that public transportation is the way to go. It’s the most ethical in the environmental fight but a little pricey in the wallet. I feel as though an electric car would be my first vehicle because I am also very big on leaving a tiny green footprint on the world. I feel as though these types of cars wont be very popular without powerful marketing techniques and a rapid price decrease to draw customers in and then spring back to an average price once they are on the streets in masses. The power sources would have to be more frequent as well. Someone doesn’t want to ask a friend to “borrow” their electricity per say.

  7. This blog post takes me back to my marketing 302 class. We did a project on electric cars and ran a survey “why people do not like the electric cars.” The results were almost all the same. People are scared of the driving range the electric cars offer. Another negative aspect of hybrid is the “look.” Electric cars are not for car lovers. We live in a country where people put big emphasis on valuable “things.” Personally, I support the idea of going green, but is it enough to convince everyone to start driving an electric car?

  8. I have read a couple of reasons why the electric car market has not taken off. For one, some of them, like Tesla are very unreliable. There are rumors that Tesla is going to have to file for bankruptcy for this very reason, people aren’t buying their cars because of reliability issues. Another problem with electric cars that people have to consider is that although they are not using gas, they are using electricity, which has to be produced from a plant. Until electricity is produced in a environmentally friendly way in the United States, there may be no reason to buy an electric vehicle. All in all the government will have to come up with different ways to no only reduce car emissions, but also emissions from electricity plants.

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