EV marketing needs a reality check

In the industry's ongoing transformation from internal combustion-powered to battery-electric propulsion, marketing honesty is needed for automakers and dealers to satisfy — rather than frustrate — their trusting customers.

Current electric vehicle marketing is aimed at convincing potential customers that battery-powered vehicles are in every way equal to or better than existing internal combustion engine vehicles. In effect, marketers are selling a direct substitution. They pitch EVs by claiming that every aspect of the automotive experience will improve — and that's not really the case yet.

Yes, in many ways, EVs have superior technology: They produce far fewer atmosphere-harming emissions and offer a more powerful and responsive driving experience with fewer moving parts that are susceptible to breakage. But their significantly higher price, refueling difficulties in terms of time and infrastructure, and lack of range continue to keep battery-electric vehicles from achieving truly equal footing with their more established rivals.

Industry marketers can be honest about their EVs with consumers — and still have a compelling and lucrative story to tell.

In their current form, and despite infrastructure shortcomings, EVs are ideal second (or subsequent) vehicles in family fleets, where their attributes can remove large amounts of automotive emissions without negatively impacting family mobility. Marketing BEVs as secondary family cars means automakers don't need to make the specious direct substitution argument and instead can appeal to their customers' desires to contribute to stopping climate change in a meaningful way.

While the number of EV nameplates for sale in the U.S. is still relatively small compared with their internal combustion counterparts, the change in ratio is quickening and promises to continue to do so over the next few years, as our Future Product Pipeline reporting shows.

To paraphrase Voltaire, this industry should not make the perfect the enemy of the good. As EV technology further matures, the direct substitution argument will grow more persuasive. But for now, automakers and dealers can credibly sell EVs by being honest and realistic with their customers about the role such vehicles can play in their lives today.