After a slow start, electric vehicles are gaining in popularity. London is now host to an electric car-sharing service, which proved successful in Paris.
Sales of electric vehicles have seen significant rises in the last year. Now Volkswagen has unveiled a battery-powered Porsche that is capable of travelling 500km on a single charge and refuelling in just 15 minutes.
Not that long ago the traditional car industry was accused of limiting the progress of electric vehicles. In the 2006 documentary, Who killed the electric car?, S David Freeman said: “I think the clean car is too important to be left to the automotive industry”. By this he could have meant the stakes for humanity were too high to leave it to the car sector alone to sort out the solutions. But recent years have seen numerous big brands join the race to lead the electric car market – from Nissan and Renault to VW’s Audi and now Porsche models.
My colleagues and I studied the experience of early electric vehicle users and sought to understand the gap that seemed to exist between people expressing concern for the environment, but not changing their consumer behaviour when it came to the cars they bought.
People tend to have two aspects to their decision making. They have a rational, cognitive side and they have a more hedonistic one that cares more about aesthetics than the practicalities. Both matter for people deciding to live more sustainable lifestyles.
Magic Carpet Ride
When it comes to electric vehicles, we found that people want to feel special in the vehicle they are driving. This was also apparent in the case of electric motorbikes. The exhilaration of riding ank electric bike was compared to “riding a magic carpet” by one interviewee who felt his bike allowed him to get closer to nature than ever before.
