Should Plug-in Vehicles be bundled with Other Products and Services?

Some of the recent research emerging in the plug-in vehicle field shows that consumers tend to be the most open to consider a plug-in vehicle during times of instability in their lives. Moving house, changing job, having the first child are transition points when people tend to revaluate how they live their lives and if any fundamental changes are needed. Conversely, when people are “stuck in a grove” and are happy to have everything stay as it is then they’d be much less likely to think about altering their personal travel behaviour. These transition points do not happen very often and so its important to make them count.

Trying to get the most behavioural change for a single intervention would help to maximise the benefit of these transition points. This concept leads us nicely into considering if plug-in vehicles can be combined with other goods and services that may prove complementary. We’ve already alluded to early in this blog how plug-in vehicles can be sold in combination with an electricity tariff that may source its electricity from renewable/green generation or provide much cheaper rates during the night when the EV can be scheduled to recharge. Are there any other goods or services that can be combined with plug-in vehicles that share similar themes? I can think of a whole spectrum including combination boilers, cavity wall insulation and home compositing but there is one that, to me, stands out from the crowd.

A Selection of my Favourite Car Commercials – Golf GTi

Following on from the previous post, the next commercial from my favourites list stars the Volkswagen Golf GTi. This commercial combines the iconic scene from Singing in the Rain where Gene Kelly wanders happy down a street with the introduction of the Golf. The Golf GTi, which is iconic in its own right, was first introduced in the late 1970s and, on the surface, hasn’t changed a great deal. Indeed, there wasn’t too much that needed changing in the original car with the alterations simply bringing mild improvements on an already successful theme.  The commercial illustrates this vividly by demonstrating that small changes are all that is required to bring a time honoured car into the present day. Without further ado, I hope you enjoy the commercial.   

A Selection of my Favourite Car Commercials – Gas Powered Everything

Passenger vehicles are a huge industry across the globe account for near enough a trillion dollars of revenue per year which is set to increase in the future. Not surprisingly this level of economic activity brings with it a hefty level of competition to attract new customers by either bringing them into the market or acquiring them from competitors. Not only must automotive manufacturers make desirable products but they must also market them effectively to potential customers. 

With this level of money at stake, even increasing your market share by 1% can bring in 100s of millions of dollars of additional revenue. With this in mind the automotive industry invests heavily in advertising their products bringing in top marketing talent to come up with attention grabbing commercials. Some of these commercials that have come out over the years have been truly amazing and I’ve started to collect a few of the best on my Youtube account. Over the coming few weeks I’ll be posting my favourites for you to enjoy. Today’s instalment, keeping with the theme of this blog, is a thought provoking piece from Nissan that also pokes some fun at one of their nearest rivals, I hope you enjoy.   

What Will Consumers Think of Vehicle to Grid Technology?

The introduction of plug-in vehicles to the mass automotive market will undoubtedly make a consumer’s purchasing decision more complex. They will have to consider the virtues and vices of these new powertrain technologies and how they will fit in with their lifestyles. As if this was not complicated enough, the future introduction of an additional option related to plug-in vehicles has the possibility of leaving the general driver scratching their heads.

Vehicle-to-Grid technology allows a plug-in vehicle to communicate with the electricity grid and offer responsive services such as storing unused electricity during times of low demand with the option of releasing this stored energy back to the grid should any demand peaks occur. This service would be paid for by the utility companies offering plug-in vehicle drivers with an additional source of revenue to offset their vehicle’s high upfront costs. As more renewable energy is put onto the grid new mechanisms will need to be installed to smooth out supply of energy. Having the capability to drawn down on stored supplies generated from renewable energy would be much more effective than firing up a coal electricity plant every time there is a drop in generation.

 

Upgrade-Ready Vehicles could solve the Problem of Lock-in

Whenever I consider buying a new piece of consumer technology I am always concerned about how futureproof the item is. We’ve all envisaged worst case scenarios where we just set foot outside the store after buying our brand new phone or laptop only for a new version to be released the next day that surpasses our purchase. We don’t want to be locked into out of date technology and so the savvy among us usually research the market before buying to ensure what we buy will have some lasting power.

This paints a very black and white picture and it discounts a fundamental aspect of the consumer technology being released today. In an attempt to encourage consumer uptake of their products, manufacturers are now regularly building in upgrade potential into their latest devises. This upgrade potential may be hardware based such as where an additional stick of RAM is added to a personal computer or software based where a smart-phone is upgraded to the latest operating system. The same principle holds true for the latest personal vehicles in both the software and the hardware dimension.

 

Baby Steps or Great Leap Forward?

It seems more and more likely that Electric Vehicles are to be the future of personal automotive transport. They offer distinct advantages over Hydrogen, biofuel, CNG and LPG vehicles. The question now on everyone’s lips is how quick will the transition be? Our previous article discussed the inherent limitations in attempting to predict future markets but I want to expand on a point that wasn’t well laid out and that is the issue of consumer acceptance.

People in general are quite adverse to sudden and dramatic change in their consumption patterns. Introducing a concept, idea or product that is radically different from the conventional norm runs the risk of being greeted with hesitation and perhaps resistance. Moving from conventional internal combustion engine vehicles straight to electric vehicles will be a substantial change and require drivers to reconsider in many ways how they drive a car. This scenario is loaded with pitfalls and therefore it is unlikely there will be a mass shift from ICE to EV in consumer preferences. Indeed, it most likely would be undesirable all-round for this to be the case as EVs will undoubtedly have some teething problems that will need to be addressed.

Batteries Not Included?

If there is one universal truth that holds constant throughout the universe it is that the future will not be the same as the past. Change will happen and, as the previous post discusses, the ability to predict change is a highly desirable commodity. The market for personal vehicles currently stands at a crossroads with multiple pathways leading forward. The current overriding market model is one of personal ownership of a passenger vehicle that is bought from an automotive manufacturer and refuelled by petroleum firms. There is potential that this model will continue into the future but a number of rivals have emerged and are vying for position.