TO THE EDITOR:
The press is finally waking up to the fact that women could very well be key to the next phase of electric vehicle adoption. Kudos big time to MoveEV’s Kate Harrison for “Automakers are missing an opportunity to sell more EVs to women” (autonews.com, Sept. 10).
EVs’ increasing market share is inevitable. We appear to be entering the next adoption phase, which will reach beyond the (mostly male) early adopters. As Scott Case, CEO of Recurrent, a company focused on EV batteries, mentioned in “3 ways dealers can better serve their EV customers” (autonews.com, June 22): “The first generation of EV shoppers did all their own research and came in knowing what they wanted to buy and what to expect. This is changing as EVs become mainstream.”
And mainstream means dealers should begin to adjust their marketing and sales strategies to include a gender of EV car buyer pretty well ignored so far: women. It’s interesting that just recently, EV buying excitement and activity has slowed. While others are trying to figure out why, let me suggest that it might have something to do with the fact that “mainstream” shoppers will include women, a group that has so far only purchased about 40 percent of EVs in the U.S., according to Edmunds.
The big question really should be, will the mostly male dealer sales and service front-liners be able to adjust their communication and education style to women? The growth of EVs may well depend on it.
ROGER CONANT, Manager, BEVEverything, Houston
BEVEverything is an EV consulting and training initiative for dealers.
