Until this year, Cat O’Bryan had never bought a new car.
“We’ve been purchasing a vehicle under 10 grand for years because we don’t really care what we drive,” the Melbourne-based parent of two says.
But when her family’s second car died, she wanted to do her bit for the environment, so she started considering an electric vehicle (EV).
Subsidies that were available in her state and the option of novated leasing (where monthly car payments are paid out of a pre-taxed salary) meant she was pleasantly surprised by the money she’d have to outlay for a new EV.
So in June, after plenty of online research, she took the plunge.
“I would not ordinarily call myself [a tech enthusiast], but I guess you could call me an early adopter. I was probably part of the second wave,” she says.
But recent research conducted by car shopping guide Edmunds has found Ms O’Bryan is in the minority.
As a woman buying an EV, she’s vastly outnumbered by men — and it’s a trend that has experts concerned.
There’s a gender gap in car purchasing in general.
“In the US, for example, 59 per cent of men buy vehicles [compared to] 41 per cent of women,” explains Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson, future transport reporter at AAP.
EV researcher Gail Broadbent says while it’s important not to assume Australia’s market is identical to America’s, these figures align with research she’s done in Australia and New Zealand.
Edmunds’ study found that 67 per cent of EV buyers in the US were men and just 33 per cent were women.
It also found men were much more likely to consider EVs as their next vehicle — 71 per cent compared to 34 per cent of women — and less likely to consider a hybrid or plug-in vehicle — 10 per cent compared to 24 per cent of women.
“Men are traditionally seen as the first to automotive technology,” Ms Dudley-Nicholson tells ABC RN’s Download This Show.
“You don’t see many female mechanics out there, you certainly don’t see many female automotive journalists — I can vouch for that — and it’s rare to see auto brands headed by female executives.”
And women are often ignored when it comes to marketing cars.
“There’s an assumption that women aren’t interested in vehicles or the purchasing process,” says Graeme Hughes, director of the Business Lab at Griffith University.
EV sales increased by more than 50 per cent globally from 2021 to 2022. Electric cars make up 14 per cent of new car sales on average.
But in Australia, this number is less than 4 per cent.
Experts cite a lack of federal purchase initiatives, cultural opposition and a lack of fuel-efficiency regulation as factors in Australia’s sluggish uptake.
EV researcher Gail Broadbent would like to see more economic incentives boost Australia’s EV market.
She’d also like to see female buyers taken more seriously.
Although both women and men report liking technology as a primary motivation for buying an EV, men were more than twice as likely to list “being the first to have something” as a motivating factor.
Meanwhile, women were twice as likely to cite fighting climate change as their primary driver.
When it came to considering an EV for future purchases, women were more interested in pragmatic factors, primarily range but also tax credit availability and avoiding the rising cost of petrol. Men were most concerned with vehicle brand, followed by range.
(ABC)
