SHOPSMART AUTOS – CUSTOMER INFORMATION – MARCH 20, 2021
EV charging and pricing: What are consumers willing to pay?
People often shop around for the lowest price in town for gasoline, with the per gallon price being the most prominent element on the gas stations’ signs. As the electric vehicle (EV) market matures, consumers are going to be sensitive how much it will cost to “fill up” their EVs. To get a glimpse into their perceptions of cost, E Source asked utility customers in the US and Canada a series of pointed questions in the E Source 2020 Electric Vehicle Residential Customer Survey. Here we offer insights to help you improve consumers’ understanding of EVs through new messaging approaches. Additionally, these results can help utilities better plan their public charging network pricing and determine whether time-variable rates are attractive to EV owners and shoppers.
How can you improve charging and pricing communications?
Using data from this survey, utilities can give useful information to consumers contemplating the purchase of an EV. Some key messages to describe in simple terms to consumers include:
- Charging at home is easy, and if you drive less than 30 miles per day, you can charge with a regular 120-volt outlet available in most garages overnight. If you drive more than that, your utility can help you upgrade to a faster charger for a modest cost, after rebates.
- The fuel to drive an electric car is much cheaper than gasoline, saving you about 60% to 70% of your costs.
- The costs for charging at public stations can vary a lot, so check the local prices when filling up.
- Fast chargers can be very convenient and can fill up most batteries in 30 to 60 minutes. However, some studies have shown that frequent fast charger use accelerates battery degradation.
Do customers know how to charge an EV?
To start with, we discovered that few people understand the charging process and available types of charging. In the survey, E Source described the different types of charging that the EV industry typically refers to as Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3 or fast charging in layman’s terms. These levels are meaningless to most consumers. Yet, even with simple explanations, these are still difficult concepts to grasp, since a gallon of gas is so much easier to understand than a kilowatt (kW) or kilowatt-hour (kWh) for most consumers.
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