More and more people are making the switch to an electric vehicle (EV), which is great news as they play a critical role in helping countries around the globe to reach their net zero carbon emissions goals. In the UK for example, transport is the largest emitting sector of our economy. It’s responsible for 25% of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions – of which 52% comes from cars. Why are we discussing EVs? Because we think that energy companies around the world can play an important role in educating and encouraging people to make the switch.
In the UK EVs now account for over half of UK car sales. And according to E Source’s US Residential Customer Insights Center, in the USA 32% of respondents were considering an EV in 2023. That figure stood at 23% just five years earlier.
There are plenty of reasons why people should consider making the switch. Here’s just five solid reasons to start with.
- The lifetime emissions of an EV are 70% less than petrol and diesel vehicles
- Pure EVs that produce no tailpipe emissions are exempt from road tax
- The average annual running cost of an EV, including re-fuelling/charging, insurance, Mot and servicing is significantly cheaper than petrol or diesel cars
- EV drivers can take advantage of no congestion charges in London and eligibility to drive through low emission zones for free
- The sale of petrol and diesel vehicles will be banned in the UK in 2030
The problem is, there are still a lot of barriers to adoption. According to E Source’s Electric Vehicle Residential Customer Survey it’s still the same barriers to EV adoption that we are seeing in 2023 that were reported by respondents in 2020. These include anxiety about the lack of range, lack of public charging stations, cost and lack of familiarity with the technology and choices available.
Energy companies and energy industry stakeholders are well positioned to provide accurate, easy to understand information to their customers, to help educate them about EVs and to improve the overall customer experience with EVs. Why? Because…
- They are already in every single customer’s home
- They have insights into the customers’ electrical usage
- They have communication channels to customers
- They already have extensive infrastructure in place
How we can help utilities move EVs into the fast lane
- Build a behavioural science based customer engagement programme
Behavioural science based customer engagement programs like ours provide the ideal platform to help educate and inform energy customers on the benefits of EVs. Our SaaS platform uses both behavioural and data science to trigger behavioural changes through personalised recommendations.
- Discover their appetite for switching through a personalised survey
Some people simply aren’t ready or can’t afford to make the switch to an EV, but research shows there are plenty of people considering it. We can design personalised surveys to understand which of your customers fall into the latter camp. Discover how our engagement programmes work.
- Target market the right customers with educational and informative insights
Once you understand which customers would be receptive to learning more about their EV options, they can be segmented and target marketed with regular insights and information relating to car options, home charging options, energy tariffs, rebates, tax credits etc, to help them make the move.
- Reveal neighbour comparison of bills with similar homes that already have an EV
One of the most powerful and persuasive pieces of customer engagement we deliver to our energy and water customers, are personalised comparisons of their consumption, compared to similar households in their neighbourhood. It’s a technique based on the nudge theory, and it really helps to motivate people to reduce their consumption. When it comes to motivating people to adopt an EV, we could compare and reveal the differences in energy consumption of homes with an EV and homes without. It might just serve to persuade someone considering making the switch that the increase in energy consumption that charging an EV costs, does not compare to the cost of filling their car with fuel every month.
Of course, the other advantage of adopting this approach and being proactive in helping your customers make sustainable choices, is that you will build customer loyalty. Utilities that embrace and improve their customer experience (CX) today, will retain customers, develop relationships and enjoy the additional benefits of being in prime position to capitalise on upsell and cross-sell opportunities for growth.
Get in touch today to find out how we can help engage with your customers for a more sustainable future.