Electric cars are seemingly everywhere. When you watch commercial television, car ads are more and more likely to be pushing EVs. But what is the appetite for electric vehicles in an inflationary environment where gas prices are at levels we haven’t witnessed in decades.
It depends who you ask.
If you attended CES with us back in January, it seemed like all they were displaying were electric vehicles. And that included small delivery vehicles, most of which had both autonomous and electric capabilities. But one of the striking things about all the electric cars parked together in the all new West Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center is just how beautiful they are.
The initial attitude about electric cars was that they were slow and staid – even nerdy looking. Both of those views turned out to be mythical. If you’ve spent any time in an EV, you know that impressive acceleration is a surprising feature of these electrically powered machines.
And then there’s their styling. From their graceful lines to their incredible finishes, the EVs on the floor at CES were stunning. As you can see in the compilation photo below, these cars are, in fact, electric in every aspect of the term.
But still, consumers have been slow to embrace EVs for any number of reasons, including what the industry calls “range anxiety” – the fear of running out of juice before reaching the desired destination, not finding charging stations, and related matters to distance. Axios reports startups are cropping up in large U.S. cities, taking on the challenge of the charging dilemma.
Still, most charging operations will occur in an EV’s home garage, thanks in no small part to convenience. For apartment dwellers and those without garages, however, charging continues to be a problem that needs a solution.
But the biggest barrier to electric vehicles appears to be consumers themselves, especially Americans. According to the Ernst & Young Mobility Consumer Index, a majority of prospective vehicle buyers in 18 countries now want to go electric. This is now being referred to as a “tipping point” for electric vehicles.
The U.S. lag is noteworthy. Axios What’s Next reporter Joann Muller points the finger at politics. In some countries, for example, the EV craze is being pushed by policy. The European Union is on the record that sales of internal combustion, gas-powered vehicles will be outlawed by 2035.
While more than a decade away, the Italians have gotten the memo. Nearly three in four of those in the market for a new vehicle in Italy have come around to the idea of EVs. Here in the U.S., not so much. And Muller reports that while President Biden’s goal of half of news cars to be electric by the end of the decade is aggressive, Congress is pushing back on the concept of boosting tax credits.
We saw resistance in Techsurvey 2022 as well. Overall, 12% of our more than 30,000 respondents told us they were in the market for a new vehicle this year (or had already purchased or leased one). But of those, only 11% say they plan on going down the EV road.
Even last winter, the idea of electric vehicles was uptrending in Techsurvey, especially among the male new car buyers. Still, these numbers are well behind other studies.
Part of the discrepancy may have to do with timing. No one was talking about gas prices back in January or February. The Ernst & Young survey was conducted in March when the prices at the pump were already on the rise.
Still, the hesitancy in the U.S. to go all-electric is striking. A closer look at the EY study shows American and Japanese new vehicle buyers are most reluctant to go all-in on electric.
But there are two other issues that could play a role in the march to EVs.
The first revolves around Elon Musk, the man who has done more to further the electric car revolution. Right now, Tesla has a whopping 71 share of the market, an amazing data point. While we can expect other car makers will cut into Tesla’s lead, they will continue to dominate the EV arena for years.
And that leads to a discussion of Musk’s cult of personality. Like other tech billionaires, consumers have opinions about him, no doubt magnified by his recent bombast with Twitter, as well as his political remarks and even potential aspirations. Will Tesla become to EVs what the Trump brand has become to resort hotels?
Obviously, it is already easy to purchase or lease an EV without a Tesla nameplate. But Musk and his auto upstarts are synonymous with the technology.
Then there’s the radio problem. Electromagnetic interference continues to be the excuse for why AM radio is not included in EVs. The movement was actually started by BMW back in 2014 with their i3 model. Tesla has eliminated AM from all its models, and the omission has now become more prevalent in other vehicles.
A blog post from last summer by veteran auto journalist, Jim Flammang, does a nice job of describing the lay of the EV land. Despite its hair-on-fire headline – “The End of Terrestrial Radio? Electric Cars and AM,” Flammang covers a lot of EV ground as it relates to the availability of radio in electric models.
If an electric is in your future, it would be wise to ask about the availability of AM (and FM?) radio as standard equipment when you’re test driving that new EV. And for radio operators, how long before those heritage AMs have to find homes on the FM band?
For radio broadcasters, “Electric Avenue” could prove to be a rough road.
Jacobs Media has consistently walked the walk in the digital space, providing insights and guidance through its well-read national Techsurveys.
In 2008, jacapps was launched - a mobile apps company that has designed and built more than 1,300 apps for both the Apple and Android platforms. In 2013, the DASH Conference was created - a mashup of radio and automotive, designed to foster better understanding of the "connected car" and its impact.
Along with providing the creative and intellectual direction for the company, Fred consults many of Jacobs Media's commercial and public radio clients, in addition to media brands looking to thrive in the rapidly changing tech environment.
Fred was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
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Poor AM. It has self-inflicited wounds but outside forces (like electrical interference) don’t help. I was very fortunate to program two 50kw “clear channel” blow torches. They both had terrific engineering team, but still I (and listeners) noticed deterioration of the signals.
But aren’t we moving what radio companies are calling “audio” to streaming? Won’t, eventiually, all those tower sites be used for repeaters, cell transmitters. Or subdivisions? For AM’s, going exlcusively to the stream, the playing field is made somewhat more level, although they’ll also find more competition. The AM’s which remain unique to their market, including but limited to local programming, local news, traffic and weather … that means able to break out of format for big news or weather events… will at least have a chance for success … or survival.
That said, I believe AM’s – and even FM’s – will not compete if they don’t clean up their streams – those ad insertions – including back to back to back to back PSA’s or outdated promos, have to go.
Good stuff here, Peter.
AM is especially challenged as its audiences have aged out and least likely to be happy audio streamers. And as you point out, the experience is frequently awful. There’s a lot of adjustments that have to happen. And this electric car thing is yet another wrinkle.
I watch this issue very carefully because I own an EV (one of the earlier entrants in the field, a 2015 Smart) and the first thing I noticed is that its built-in radio receives AM stations nearly as static-free as it does FM. Surprised the hell out of me.
But here’s something you came close to mentioning without actually identifying … Elon Musk is actually becoming his own worst enemy because he has failed to build out his network of “superchargers” which are what allows Tesla owners to recharge quickly. With that void, they are having to use an adapter to use the more ubiquitous “Level 2” chargers which are what everyone else uses. This is going to backfire on Musk if he doesn’t wake up and realize that he has failed to provide the infrastructure that was promised as a benefit of owning a Tesla. I have talked to a lot of Tesla owners at Level 2 stations and NOT ONE is happy about having to use that slower technology; if Musk thinks those people will want to buy another Tesla down the road, or recommend his brand to friends and family who ask, then he is a far worse businessman than he thinks he is.
By that same reasoning, your conclusions here are a parallel, Fred. Just as EV manufacturers need to provide the correct infrastructure for their customers, we need to do the same for our listeners — who, while not directly our customers, are critical to our serving the advertisers who are — by not just adding the digital online stream but by making it as good as the broadcast signal. Treating the stream as a poor second cousin is as bad a business decision as Musk apparently not feeling the need to provide his fast chargers.
Both, if left uncorrected, are recipes for losing the business in the long term.
My wife recently purchased a 2021 Honda Passport, a gas-powered vehicle. The most important audio feature for us is satellite radio which it has and is fired up. When we were test driving the vehicle, the sales person did mention it did not have a CD player but it does have the ability to plug in our iPhones. What he did not mention, and it never even occurred to me to ask about, was it did not have AM. It does have FM. We’ve had the Passport for almost 6 months now and I just realized it doesn’t have AM. To be honest, I was shocked but not terribly disappointed since we don’t listen to AM anymore. I’m more than happy with SiriusXM, Apple Play and periodically FM. I never dreamed that a new car would come without the AM band. For the radio industry, that’s a problem regardless of the litany of other challenges facing the industry.
I’ll say. Interesting that’s in happening in ICVs, too. And your story echoes what we see in Techsurvey. When consumers buy fully connected cars, broadcast radio drops, while satellite radio grows. Chances are this is the first time you/your wife have had satellite radio, and it’s natural to “pig out” on it. Thanks for relating this slice of real automobile life.
Truth be told, my wife gifted me an XM Roady 2 for Christmas in the early 2000s and I have never looked back. In fact, we now have three subscriptions: the Roady and two cars.
So you’re the one!
If you haven’t purchased a new vehicle lately, especially foreign brands, many have not come with AM in several years. What’s a CD player?
Willie, I agree. But CD players are still being included in many new cars.