Prospective EV buyers are people thinking about buying an electric car but haven't done it yet. They might have questions or worries about electric cars.
Hesitation means being unsure or slow to try something new. Here, it means people are not quickly buying electric cars because they have questions or worries about them.
Electric vehicles are cars that run on electricity instead of gas or diesel. They use batteries to power the motor and don't produce smoke from the tailpipe.
The Mini Cooper S is a small sporty car that's fun to drive and has a bit more power than the regular Mini. The 2006 version is an older model that some people still enjoy driving.
Jet engine emulation means the car makes a sound like a jet engine, even though it's electric and usually quiet. This makes driving feel more exciting.
MG is a car brand originally from Britain but now owned by a Chinese company. They make electric cars that many people buy because they are affordable.
PCP payments are a way to pay for a car in small amounts each month. After paying for some time, you can choose to buy the car, give it back, or get a new one.
An electric unicycle is a small vehicle with one wheel that moves using electricity. You stand on it and lean to go forward or backward, making it a fun and easy way to get around short distances.
LIVE
Hi, I'm Gary and this is episode 288 of EV Musings, a podcast about renewables, electric
vehicles and things that are interesting to electric vehicle owners. On the show today,
we'll be looking at people who are considering buying electric and what they think the issues are.
The EV Musings podcast is sponsored by Zatmap, the go-to app for EV drivers, helping you find
and pay for public charging with confidence. Our main topic of discussion today is prospective EV
buyers. Picture the scene. It's 2008, you're a cell phone user who's been buying Nokia's for
several years, they've gone from being the larger fixed antenna models with small screens and
even smaller keyboards to being the smaller indestructible versions with slightly larger LCD
screens and keyboards that sort of work better. You can text, albeit using multiple clicks of a
single key to rotate through a set of letters. If you wanted to type the word hello, for example,
you would press 4-4-3-3-5-5-5-5-5-6-6-6 and yet somehow we all got on with it and everything was
okay with it. Several months earlier, this tech bro based in Cappuccino, California,
got on stage with his blue jeans and a black turtleneck sweater and introduced this thing called
the iPhone. It had no keyboard, it had a full-size screen, it had these things called apps and it
was over twice as expensive as anything else on the market, at least. Here's what Microsoft
boss Steve Bulma said when he heard about it. He pulls out this iPhone. What was your first reaction
when you saw that? $500 fully subsidized with a plan. I said that is the most expensive phone in
the world and it doesn't appeal to business customers because it doesn't have a keyboard,
which makes it not a very good email machine. Now, it may sell very well or not. We have
our strategy. We've got great Windows mobile devices in the market today. You can get a
Motorola Q-Phone now for $99. It's a very capable machine. It'll do music, it'll do internet,
it'll do email, it'll do instant messaging. I look at that and I say, well, I like our strategy.
I like it a lot. Now, you'll note how he was dismissive of something new that could have
been much better. He also trotted out existing products that Microsoft had, which he believed
had all the functionality you'd ever need in a phone. It had the internet, music,
instant messaging, email, et cetera. Now, he also trots out the price of a much cheaper solution,
$99. In other words, why would you go for something new and unproven and you can stick
with what you know and pay less? Sound familiar? Now, on top of that, you couldn't just buy the
iPhone. You had to buy a data package with it and that was to allow you to do the things that
you needed to do with the apps. Oh, and the apps themselves were very simple at the time and quite
limited in what they did. And you had to buy them individually from an app store that was accessible
through the phone, which meant that you had to load up your credit card details somehow
onto the phone to allow payments to occur. Furthermore, you could type like you do with
a typewriter, but you couldn't copy and paste text. That functionality didn't exist at the time.
For many people, myself included, there was a large amount of hesitation
about actually getting one of these phones. Why would I pay all that money for them?
What was this data package I needed? How much would it all cost? All I needed
is something that allows me to make calls and be reachable wherever I am. There were many,
many questions. Lots of people, Steve Bulmer included, thought they would never take off
and it would wither and die on the vine. Now, we're a little over 18 years later
and I bet you don't know a single person over the age of about six without a smartphone.
And once more, I wouldn't mind betting that you're probably watching or listening to this
episode on your own smartphone, aren't you? Go on, admit it. That's a hell of a success story,
right? But what's this got to do with electric cars? Well, I want to cast your mind back a few
moments to the bit where I said, for many people, myself included, there was a large amount of
hesitation about actually getting one of these new iPhones. And that's the theme of today's
episode, hesitation. I think that's where we are with electric vehicles at the moment.
There are thousands of them on the roads in the UK and millions globally. They are a demonstrably
better product than internal combustion engine vehicles, but there's still a large amount
of hesitation about buying them. There are still people out there who might be considering going
electric, but for whatever reason have either not taken the plunge or have gone for something
in the middle such as a working hybrid. So why is that? What factors are playing in people's minds
when they hesitate? Is it societal? Is it financial? Is it because they've heard misinformation?
Today, we're looking into this. And to help me discuss this, I'm joined by Greg Hughes.
Now, a couple of things to note while listening to this conversation. Greg is someone that I've
worked with off and on in my non-EV life. So when he makes reference to that, you'll understand what
he means. His partner is also on a job search, which may or may not end up with them relocating
to mainland Europe. So when he makes reference to that, you'll understand why. Anyway, here's Greg.
We're going to talk today about the experience of buying an electric vehicle or at least considering
buying an electric vehicle. Now, you and I have had conversations and I bent your ear
over many a day about the benefits of electric vehicles. And I know that you've had a look at
these. You've done some test drives. And I'm going to talk about the test drive experience,
et cetera. But what do you drive at the moment to submit your business now?
2006 Mini Cooper S, no suspension, flat out, brakes have been two weeks.
Yeah. So it's costing you a little bit in maintenance.
Yeah. I'm concerned and anxiety. And every time I get in it, I think, woolly,
okay. So some today.
So at some point, you're going to say to yourself, well, that needs to be replaced.
Yeah. And of course, you've then got two options. You can stay with what you know,
which is possible fuel, petrol or diesel, or you can make the transition over to the electric. So
has that sort of conversation played through in your mind?
Yeah.
And how did that go?
I could see no reason to not get an electric.
Full?
I've done a lot of research by looking at all my videos and test driving
at an event with you in November.
I think so, yeah.
Test driven at garages, went to these to be an establishment, the Milton Keynes,
where you could do a test drive from an array of them.
The electric vehicle experience.
Yeah, I did that three years ago.
Drove a Tesla there as well, a separate visit. Tesla invited me and hired a Polestar
just to get the feel of how it would go.
Because we're in the long run and they didn't fancy doing it in the mini.
So all in all, very positive experiences, good research giving me half decent knowledge.
And at each step, trying to knock away the doubts and the obstacles to buy one.
So let's talk about those doubts because there has been research done that says that there are
people, people who consider that they would like to go to electric, usually hit a couple of
things that are barriers.
And one of them is going to be the cost barrier or they're way too expensive.
The other one is going to be, well, I don't know how long the battery is going to last.
There's also going to be things like depreciation and is the charging infrastructure there.
Have you had those concerns?
Yeah, yeah. I think the first concern was range anxiety.
Also finding a car that can give me realistically 150 miles.
Range anxiety is gone because Polestar, I had to do easily that.
We tested cars that were perfectly capable of 250.
But my turn of life, I'm not going to drive some more than 250 miles in one stretch without a break.
Yeah, we know something about that, don't we?
I just don't have the attention span, but let's go there to kind of need a car.
Range anxiety is gone.
Cost, sure you can get really expensive cars, but I don't want a really expensive car.
I've had them in the past and I don't really feel need for them there.
I'd be more than happy with something at the lower end of the market.
But with an electric car, you get astounding technology.
And going from a two-step and a six-mini to a new electric car feels like stepping into the
enterprise and what's an instant going to cost on a contract?
250, 300?
Yeah.
That's fine.
And in my line of business, that could be realistic.
That could be a good day of filming.
One day of filming a month, that's fine.
Depreciation, if it's on the contract, I don't care.
I just give it back.
Battery life cycle, again, if it's on the contract, give it back.
It's at some point I ever buy one outright, which I find highly unlikely.
I've seen loads of videos with very high mileage, relatively old electric vehicles,
like old Teslas.
And the batteries are capable of 60%, 70%, 80% of the previously new capacity.
I'm still working perfectly well.
In fact, you'll probably find it's higher than that, 80% to 90%, depending on how it's been
recharged.
The question I would ask is, have you considered buying second hand?
Yes.
Yes.
Excellent.
How's that going?
I haven't bought one yet.
So access to information is the key word.
Because I've seen YouTube videos of motoring journalists claiming things like I bought
Teslas for 4,000 pounds.
But it's through trade-only deals, auctions, and purchases from a contract agent.
If I get access to one like that, I'd buy one.
That'd be brilliant.
My particular constraint at the moment is there's no point in buying electric vehicles
to the UK, if I'm going to be living in Australia.
That's unique to me.
That's a good chance that I'll be somewhere else by the end of the year.
Once I'm there, I'll then go and look at buying an electric vehicle in that country.
What are your thoughts on the current state of the infrastructure?
My experience of that through the road trip to Durham and back in September was,
it can be really expensive to use.
One of the justifications for getting an electric vehicle is to reduce the cost of
electric.
So relying on just turn up and pay a premium price for charging doesn't sit well with
I need this to be as cheap as possible.
There are ways around that.
You can pay for the access to the Tesla network.
Is it subscription?
Yeah.
When I did the subscription for a month, I think it was £9 or £11 to have something like that.
And because of the usage I made over the four-day hire,
same point against just rocking up.
The charging stations I used were desolate, out of the way.
One of them I had to drive some way off the A1, essentially parking a car, parking a field
for half an hour with no access to toilets or coffees, which is a different experience
than going to a service station.
But it's fine.
Plan ahead.
I ended up in that particular location because I didn't particularly plan ahead.
And there were better alternatives, further up the routes that I just chose to ignore for the
students.
So assuming you get an electric car and you're staying in the UK, do you have
off-street parking where you live?
Yeah.
So you will be able to get a home charger?
Yeah.
You'll be able to take advantage of time of day tariffs and cheaper off-and-out
batteries?
Yeah.
So that obviously is going to bring down the cost of running a vehicle.
Tremendous.
Yeah.
Yeah, that's what I mean.
Let's talk a little bit about the misinformation that's out there when it comes to
electric vehicles.
Because you can come to me and you can ask me, Gary, I've heard X, Y and Z and I'll give you
the facts.
I'll give you what the reality is.
But there are a number of individuals, organisations, et cetera, out there who are not
quite as forthcoming with the truth.
Yeah.
And like to kind of muddy the waters.
Either the best is interest or the unmistakable representation.
Absolutely.
Have you seen any of that and thought, this could be a concern to me.
I wonder whether it's actually accurate or do you think, no, I know that there's,
it's bullshit, basically.
Yeah, it's bullshit.
So accessing good quality, reliable, reputable information online, YouTube or
publication websites is easy.
So when you see bullshit like range anxiety, these cars won't go more than 50 miles without
charge and then you're stuck.
Your partner will be in it and they'll be stuck in the middle of nowhere.
So, honestly, I have no qualms about buying, using and giving back at the end of the
lease because I watched half decent YouTube channel.
Drifting the electorate.
Probably won't.
Fantastic.
You.
I'm not going to blow your trumpet with you.
Yeah.
It just provides information that is quantifiably accurate.
I speak to people, we have a similar one.
I speak to people in crowd holding, old people like me.
Have you gone electric yet?
Who are you thinking of changing cars?
What sort of, oh, I'll get another jar.
I'll stick to fossil fuels.
And they truss out a whole list of, for them, plausible excuses as to why they shouldn't
get an electric car.
And I'm thinking, but none of those are accurate.
You've fallen for the Daily Mail narrative, but this is an unsustainable, overly expensive,
unreliable technology.
It's just rubbish.
If they could, I think, I think you've said this in the past, but I know that Robert
Nolan has said this, the best way you're getting people converted to electric vehicles is
just to sit them in one and drive them.
My first experience was that private invitation from Tesla to go to Milton Keynes.
I think it was amazing.
I'm not entirely sure why it's taken, that was over three years ago.
Why it's taken that long till now for me to get close to Beiger or Leasinger.
I guess the many keeps going, but that's because I keep fiddling around with it and
mending it.
If we ever get to the stage where we live in Turin or Salzburg or somewhere,
luckily, it will be Enster or Tesla, but an EV5 or something like that.
Let's talk a little bit about the test drives, because you talked about this Tesla one.
Now, I know you and I were at everything electric event last year.
Is this business today?
To business day, I think it was.
And you were able to take advantage of some of the vehicles there.
What did you actually test drive, remind me?
Side of the Stur?
Yeah.
MG's, the IM5 and the IM6.
One of those, yeah.
We did Insta and EV9.
Keys, yeah.
Yeah.
What else did we do?
Ah, did we do an EV5?
Was it an EV5?
Was that at that point, possibly?
What was the seat dot one that had jet engine emulation?
Which, yeah, I think they let it start.
You're talking about the one that had the big red button on the steering wheel,
on with the noise and the gear.
But also the racing driver co-pilot.
Yes, the Hyundai Ioniq Find.
That was very cool.
So it was a really busy day of test drives.
Yes.
In fact, apart from attending, getting a coffee for the first half hour,
and listening to a lecture, waiting for you to turn up, the day was entirely test drives.
Fantastic.
Yeah, brilliant.
Yeah.
After doing that, if you say you've kind of settled on the Insta,
is there the potential?
One of your colleagues on the day said,
don't get the Insta, wait till competitors come up with a similar like offering.
But because it will be six months further down the track, it will be better.
Yeah.
So the rates of change of technology for each iteration is like a leap forward.
It is.
But do you think it's going to fall into the same trap that we had with personal computers?
Yeah.
Oh, there's this great one now.
If I wait six months, because six months later, if you wait six months on top of that,
you're going to have to draw a line and say,
It's complete.
Yeah, yeah.
So at some point, I will draw that line.
And that will probably be within the first couple of months of wherever we're going to be living.
Okay.
Because we will need a transport.
Yes.
And it's by some strange weird twist of fate, we end up living somewhere else in the UK.
I'll just jump into the easy market then.
Just remind the listeners which area you're living in at the moment?
Living outside of the UK.
Yeah, absolutely.
Excellent.
Do you think, I mean, notwithstanding what you just said about potentially moving to abroad,
do you think if you do move to electric, you'll then start to look at the wider ecosystem of,
well, hang on, if I put solar panels on, I can get free charging.
And then I might get a battery because I take advantage of the overnight rates and that.
Is that something that you're actively thinking about?
Or is it well up with that on the back burner?
On the back burner at the moment.
Yeah.
If we do move abroad, there'll be an element of not feeling particularly saddened.
There's a good chance that the first six months will rent anyway.
Yeah.
And so solar panels and batteries won't be in the equation.
And depending on how secure and settled we are in that new location, whether we take to it,
or whether there's a job change further down the line and we move up to 18 months,
that may act against us making infrastructure investments in whatever house we have.
If we get to a stage where we're settled and we know we've got a house for, say,
we're going to be here for five years, then additional infrastructure items like a battery
would be brilliant.
Yeah.
So I've got no aversion to the technology and installing it and learning how to use it properly,
being slightly geeky about the numbers and the wiring connections.
And yeah, I'd like that idea, that side of things appeals to.
Yeah.
It's on the back burner at the moment just because there's a lack of certainty about where we'll be
and how long we'll be there.
Either.
That makes sense.
It's somebody who's watching this who is in the same position you were in
a number of months or years ago, which is, you know, I've got a fossil fuel car,
it's coming to the end of its life.
I can either buy another fossil fuel car or I can go to electric.
Bit of advice, what would you recommend that they do knowing that there's this
misinformation out there, but knowing that there are also these genuine issues that people have
regarding range anxiety and all that sort of stuff.
What would you advise them?
Go to a dealership.
Go to go and find out your nearest Hyundai or MG dealership and get behind a car.
I'm sure they'd be more than happy to let you have a test drive.
It's their business.
That's what we want.
Within a mile or so of a test drive, you'll be convinced.
Honestly, you will.
I know it's preaching to the converted, but that's fabulous.
From the very first time of getting into a Tesla where it felt like science fiction,
and then I test drove a Nero years ago, two, three years ago.
Five years ago.
They were brilliant.
And then neighbors and friends got electric vehicles and they got Teslas.
And to a man and woman, they all thought, why haven't we done this sooner?
What was the reason we stopped?
And they all had Jags or big Mercedes, petrol-driven things, and we'll never go back.
It almost sounds like there's a level of fear.
Yeah.
There's a barrier that needs to be overcome.
And if you can just pluck up enough courage to bolt that barrier, there's a whole new one.
I think it's less to do with information because people can read it and rationalize it and
intellectualize it against it.
But the physical experience of sitting in one and driving it, even for a short period of time,
is so joyful.
Jane, you really have a lovely experience.
That converts me.
And it converts those that are passenger.
I took my son to Durham in the Polestar and he thought it was fabulous.
Smooth and quiet and comfortable, things to play with, electric heated seats.
Did we hold him in the back?
No, we didn't.
But he thought it was the most comfortable.
We used to have an enormous enthusiasm, which was plush and leathery and he thought the Polestar was better.
Well, I think that's probably a good point to draw this conversation to a close,
unless you've got anything else you'd like the reviews and the license to know.
No, I think it's probably safe to say stop and cut.
So a couple of takeaways.
Firstly, Greg came into this with a fairly open mind.
He wasn't entirely sure he wanted an EV, but he could recognize the benefits of owning one.
The fears that he had that caused him to hesitate of range of anxiety, infrastructure, etc.
They were allayed because he had someone he knew who'd been through this
and could help answer all the questions that he had.
That's me, by the way.
Greg recognized that there are still people out there in a similar situation to him
who would benefit from an electric vehicle, but who haven't yet taken the plunge.
Although I know of at least two mutual acquaintances in that situation who were well along the path.
One is currently looking in detail at second hand electric vehicles.
The other has just taken delivery of a brand new MG5S, which both he and his wife love.
After we'd stopped recording, Greg told me that the Mini he currently has that he made reference to,
which he bought for about £3,000 eight years ago,
has cost him almost £12,000 in repairs and about the same in fuel.
Now, for context, that's three years of PCP payments on a brand new EV
and around 686,000 miles worth of electricity at seven pence a kilowatt hour
with an efficiency of four miles per kilowatt hour.
What we're thinking about.
So in closing, it's worth remembering the statistics I quote constantly
on this show and which Greg referenced in our discussion.
The vast majority of people you know have never ridden in an electric vehicle
and an even larger majority have never driven one.
They hear lots of misinformation, disinformation and misleading advice
in both the mainstream media and social media.
They hear a lot of the old tropes that might have been true many years ago,
but are no longer true and they hesitate.
But just like the iPhone in 2007, the groundswell of people who get it
and understand that it's a better product than the incumbent,
will start to move the needle when it comes to electric vehicles.
So what sort of hesitancy do you have when it comes to EVs?
Let me know in Ford EV Musings dot.
I hope you enjoyed listening to today's show.
It was put together with the help of Greg Hughes.
The EV Musings podcast is sponsored by Zatmap.
The go-to app for EV drivers help you find and pay for public charging with confidence.
Zatmap is free to download and use with subscription plans
for enhanced features such as using Zatmap in car,
on carplay or android auto and discounted charging across thousands of charge points.
I'm also on Instagram at EV Musings,
where I post short videos and podcast extracts regularly.
So why not follow me there?
Thanks to everyone who supports me through Patreon on the monthly basis
and through coffee.com on an ad hoc one.
If you enjoyed this episode, why not buy me coffee?
Go to coffee.com slash evmusings and you can do just that.
ko-fi.com slash evmusings.
Takes out the pay too.
Now regular listeners will know about my two ebooks.
So you've gone electric and so you've gone renewable.
First one of those has had a recent update.
You'll see it with a bright red image on the front,
just like I'm showing on the screen here.
Both of those are 99p each or equivalent,
and you can get them on the Amazon Kindle Store.
Check out the links in the show notes for more information,
as well as the links to my regular EV Musings newsletter
and associated article.
Now I know you're probably driving or walking or jogging
or in the shower or washing the car,
but if you can remember and you enjoyed this episode,
proper review in iTunes, please.
Really helps me out.
I did go out and go in and have a look recently
as some of the most recent reviews.
Thank you very much for those who took time to do that for me.
If you've reached this part of the podcast and are still listening,
thank you.
Why not let me know you've got to this point
by messaging me at musingsev.beastguy.social with the words
he who hesitates is lost.
Hashtag if you know, you know nothing else.
Thanks as always to my co-founder Simon.
You know he has a short list of qualities that need to be
in his ideal mode of transport.
Custom made electric unicycle.
Smooth and quiet and comfortable.
Things to play with.
Electric heated seats.
Thanks for listening. Bye.
About this episode
The episode explores the hesitation many people feel about switching to electric vehicles (EVs), drawing a parallel with the early skepticism around the iPhone. Host Gary and guest Greg Hughes discuss common concerns such as cost, battery life, range anxiety, and charging infrastructure. Greg shares his positive test drive experiences and how leasing options alleviate worries about depreciation and battery longevity. They also touch on the impact of misinformation and the importance of accessible information for prospective EV buyers, highlighting the evolving landscape of EV adoption.
Why Hesitation Holds Back the Electric Vehicle Revolution—and How to Overcome It
In this episode, we explore the common barriers preventing more people from switching to electric vehicles. Drawing parallels with smartphone adoption and featuring insights from Greg Hughes, this discussion clarifies why hesitation persists—and how overcoming it can accelerate the move to cleaner mobility.
Main Topics:
The psychological and societal barriers to adopting EVs, including range anxiety and misinformation
The tangible benefits of test drives and real-world experiences in easing fears
How infrastructure, costs, and secondhand EV options influence buying decisions
Misinformation and how reliable, accessible information can break down doubts
Practical advice for prospective owners: test drives, peer insights, and thinking long-term
Hesitation around EVs is natural but primarily rooted in misinformation, lack of firsthand experience, and infrastructural concerns. Just like the smartphone revolution, once people have the chance to sit in, drive, and see the benefits firsthand, resistance diminishes. The shift to electric isn't just inevitable; it’s already accelerating—your move might just be a test drive away.
The EV Musings Podcast is sponsored by Zapmap, the go-to app for EV drivers, helping you find and pay for public charging with confidence.
The EV Musings Podcast is sponsored by Zapmap, the go-to app for EV drivers, helping you find and pay for public charging with confidence. Zapmap is free to download and use, with subscription plans for enhanced features such as using Zapmap in-car on CarPlay or Android Auto, and discounted charging across thousands of charge points.
Download the app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store or find out more at www.zapmap.com.
