Urban legends about electric mobility

The Mobility Committee of the AMKT (Spanish Marketing Association), led by
PONS Mobility and Nort3-, has held a new Mobility Observatory, under the title “Myths and legends of the mobility of the future: what role do consumers play?”, in which, together with various experts and professionals from the mobility and the automotive industry, the use of electric vehicles and alternatives have been addressed from the perspective of the end user.

The conference, built as a participatory and collaborative forum, sought to illustrate both the positive aspects of introducing this type of vehicle into consumer habits and the barriers, real and fictitious, that they may encounter on the way to the “vehicle of tomorrow” . The Observatory had the intervention of Xavier Flores, Secretary General of Infrastructures of the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, who highlighted that the vehicle that we are going to find in the future will stand out for four main values: «electric, connected, shared and autonomous. In this regard, Xavier Flores pointed out that this vehicle will open up many avenues for the user, for example, “it will allow us to do many more things than we do now, such as turning our vehicle into a leisure point.”

Likewise, among the speakers at the Observatory, the presence of Andrea Vota, Public Policy Manager IT ES PT of Bolt, stood out, who, with her presentation ‘Affordable, safe and sustainable multimodality for the citizen’, highlighted her company’s commitment to sustainability, as well as support for cities in the construction of infrastructure for people. Vota explained to the attendees a pilot program carried out in 10 cities, including Madrid, in which 460,000 users were involved. From this, it was possible to conclude, among other points, the following: «when we make an alternative means available to the user

cleaner and that does not occupy as much as a car, the user is encouraged to use it, especially for short distances». Thus, at least, it is confirmed by 41% of those surveyed in Madrid, 52% of users in Oslo or 210% of those in Lisbon.

For his part, Santiago Velázquez, Director of External Communication and Sustainability of Línea Directa, presented the report ‘New urban mobility and accident rate’, which aims to demonstrate how mobility and micromobility are affecting accident data. This survey, carried out on a sample of 1,700 drivers and road users, reveals that the increase in urban accidents in the last 10 years has increased by 42%. Following this line, he sent a clear message: “if we do not follow the recommendations imposed by the DGT, in the next decade there could be 5,500 deaths on urban roads, which would represent a growth of 18% compared to the previous decade” . Velázquez also wanted to take the opportunity to point out the preferred means of users according to their age: VMP and sharing (18-29 years), multimodal (30-44 years), own car (45-64 years), car and transport public (65-75 years).

Another of the speakers, José Manuel López, Commercial Director of MSI, presented his report ‘Car Market Trend 2022/23’, through which he highlighted that gasoline is beginning to fall for the first time after so many years (460,415 units in 2022), as well as diesel (180,946). Regarding the vehicles with more ecological energies, “they will continue to rise but they still lack enough park for them to begin to be noticed in the most urban cities.” Likewise, he made reference to the VO market. On this issue, he commented that vehicles aged 0-3 years are the ones that fall the most, “due to lack of stock”, to 242,568 units this year. For its part, the largest volume is found in the oldest vehicles, over 10 years old, which puts on the table the age of the Spanish fleet. “A person who pollutes may not be fully aware of it, perhaps he has no other alternative to not being able to access a younger vehicle,” said José Manuel López.

the urban legends

Thus, Appinio, a company specializing in market research, presented the study ‘6 urban legends of electric mobility’ to the attendees. Said study, based on a population sample of 2,000 people, aged between 16 and 65, and with a margin of error of 2%, showed as its main result that the youngest citizens are the ones who are most committed to the electrification of the future. In this way, 77% of young people between 25-34 years old and 75% of those between 35-44 years old see it very likely that their next car will be electric. If we look at a more adult segment of the population, over 55 years of age, that percentage drops to 64%.

Lidia Mirón, Country Director Spain at Appinio, presented a quantitative study carried out on a representative sample of men and women at the national level that dismantles many of the myths created around sustainable mobility. The six conclusions of the study are as follows:

1. The electric future is a thing for young people and environmentalists. There is only a 12% difference between the youngest and oldest age quotas when making the switch to electric when buying the next car, and they belong to various sectors.

2. The transition to the electric vehicle has no date and will be long. “90% of the population accepts that the future of mobility lies in the electric car,” says Lidia Mirón. Therefore, the new consumer is already prepared for the transition from the combustion vehicle to the electric one.

3. The main motivation to buy electric is the environment. The study shows that fuel savings and economic benefits outweigh the ecological cause.

4. Everyone knows that electric mobility is expensive. This is one of the attributes in the top of mind of the respondents. However, according to Mirón, avoiding this for future communication and awareness policies in this regard.

5. It is necessary to inform more about the positive impact of electric mobility on the environment. Before that, more information is required about charging options, battery autonomy, energy costs, etc. taboo topics since it is difficult for consumers to get that information, but they involve important aspects that, once again, can be solved from the communication field.

6. Our neighbors to the north are ahead of us in terms of acceptance of electric mobility. It is a false myth. “Not only are we not at the bottom, but we are ahead with almost 20 percentage points ahead of countries like Germany,” says Mirón, who is more willing to accept this type of vehicle in the minds of consumers in Spain.