RE: Sell the "sizzle" (was: SCIENCE FRIDAY on NPR)

["Arnaud Hubert" <arnaud@siliconvalleyfrogs.com>]

EXACTLY! Totally with you, Bill.

I know I sometimes get raised eyebrows from some people in the grassroot EV
community when I tell them the EVs will never go mainstream as long as they
look weird or ugly, and that we should stop antagonizing EVs and ICE
vehicles.

Just market the car not as an EV, but as another vehicle that will be an
addition to your other car(s). People still want to be able to drive their
SUV to Tahoe (even if they don't really need an SUV for that). But you have
to show them that an EV is the ideal vehicle to commute to work in the
diamond lane, and that they'll never have to buy gas for it, and get a kick
when stepping on the accelerator.

And, of course, you have to make it look cool... Whatever they might
pretend, most car buyers DO care about what their car looks like -
particularly in the US. If you make a cute two-seater with a 50 miles range
and good marketing, you'll get buyers, I guarantee it. You just have to do
for EVs what Apple did with the iMac, or VW with the New Beetle. The EV
market would expand from a stiletto to a least a niche.

Arnaud



-----Message d'origine-----
De : owner-ev@listproc.sjsu.edu [mailto:owner-ev@listproc.sjsu.edu]De la
part de BillDube@killacycle.com
Envoyé : dimanche 27 janvier 2002 10:59
À : ev@listproc.sjsu.edu
Objet : Re: Sell the "sizzle" (was: SCIENCE FRIDAY on NPR)



>
>So, how do we link this to the next step? Ask people we know what would
>cause them to buy an EV?

         Folks will say that they want a practical vehicle, then they will
actually buy something totally impractical. Think about how folks would
react if you asked them if they would be interested in an $8,000 EV with a
range of 12 miles, a top speed of 20 MPH, that weighs about 400 pounds. If
you added that it would balance itself on two side-by-side wheels, this
wouldn't help much.

         It is all marketing. You tell people what they want. You don't ask
them what they want. Also, you look carefully at what they buy, and what
actually motivates them to make the selection.

         If you think about Beanie Babies, you will understand just how
marketing works. It's a doll, made of cloth, that costs about $2 to make.
Why would anyone pay 100's of dollars for a $2 doll? Marketing....




>A couple weeks ago, I had the chance to play Devil's Advocate with a guy
who
>only knew I had an interest in EV's, nothing more. He assumed that I would
>have no idea about anything he talked about. He stated that he lost
interest
>in EV's because you really can't do much with them. He travels from Phoenix
>to California about three times or so per year, and the car wouldn't make
>it. I asked if he could fly, take a bus, or rent a car on one end of the
>trip or the other. He agreed that all of those things would be possible to
>do.
>
>The conversation ended rather abruptly after he got his tax receipt for the
>clothing he was donating to the thrift store that we had met at during the
>conversation. He then got into his Ford Pick up truck with the CNG sticker,
>fluffy cloud license plate, and disappeared into the afternoon traffic. I
>forgot to state that our conversation had began with his distaste for the
>State of Arizona backing out on the subsidies they once offered on
>Alternative Fueled CNG powered vehicles. Gees' I'm glad I don't make much
>money. Finding all those tax breaks seems like a part-time job in itself.
>
>Regards,
>
>Rick Pryor

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