Welcome to the final installment of our in-depth series where we look at the difference between professional EV reviews and the lived EV experience according to owners! Previously, we covered top-of-mind topics and sentiment for both professional EV reviewers and EV owners. Now we’re putting it all together to shine a light on potential blind spots EV reviewers may have as they strive to connect with their evolving audience.
We took a couple hundred professionally published EV reviews from about three dozen review sites and used Predicta’s AI engine to compare their topic frequency and sentiment to a few thousand recent reviews from EV owners. There are already large gaps between the two groups which may further widen as the EV market matures and more “early majority” buyers enter the fray.
Things for reviewers to keep in mind
Remember the ‘V’ in ‘EV’: Tesla burst onto the scene not because they made an electric car, but because they made an awesome car that was also electric. Batteries are important and cause real difficulties for owners, but those same owners are 2-3 times more likely to talk about traditionally important car topics like Quality. Remember the ‘V’!
Safety and Reliability: As EVs go mainstream, they will encounter more buyers who are risk-averse and will depend on them as their primary vehicle. If these buyers perceive a vehicle as unsafe or unreliable, they will buy something else. This is one of the top barriers to widespread EV adoption today, and its importance may be unappreciated by the general media. Reliability was the seventh-most mentioned of our 50 topics among buyers. For writers, it ranked 42nd.
Value: The market is shifting from people buying EVs on principle or from their excess and toward people who are looking for legitimate primary vehicles. Value is quickly becoming more important. This was the sixth-most mentioned topic among buyers, but 31st among writers.
Handling/Performance: People who experience EVs for the first time are often blown away by how they drive. Don’t take this for granted!
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