A new survey by Pike Research has revealed that 48% of prospective US consumers would be “extremely” or “very” interested in purchasing a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) with a 40mile range (65 km) on a single charge. The survey looked at the interest in purchasing a PHEV with an electricity cost equivalent of $0.75 a gallon and if additional charging stations were made available around town.Of those interested, almost half said they would be willing to pay 5-10% more for a PHEV compared to a standard petrol vehicle; with 17% even willing to pay between 20 and 50% more.
Pike also quizzed those who were not interested in the vehicles with most (45%) saying they wanted to wait until the technology is more proven; 33% saying the 40mile (65 km) range was insufficient; and 29% stating that they simply didn’t like the idea of plugging in. A further 28% questioned the reliability of the vehicles while 25% questioned the quality of an electric vehicle in general.
According to the survey, 82% of respondents drive 40 miles or less a day and 85% believe fuel efficiency will be an important factor when they next choose a vehicle. Around 2/3 of those surveyed expressed a willingness to pay a premium price for a PHEV and there were no dramatic differences in the interest expressed in the vehicles based on age and other demographic factors such as income and gender.
In a separate forecast, Pike Research believes that PHEV programmes will focus on the small car segment initially (80% of sales in 2015) followed by the small SUV market (10% of sales in 2015). It expects the US to represent the largest market for both regular hybrid vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, closely followed by China. It believes worldwide sales will exceed half a million vehicles by 2015.
Source : TheGreenCarWebsite, by Paul Lucas, September 9th, 2009
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