THINK Survey Finds That Potential EV Consumers Would Trade Range for Price

In brief: THINK, which makes the electric car known as the TH!NK City, has released results from a customer survey that found that 50% of potential electric vehicle (EV) buyers would be willing to accept a shorter range if it reduced the cost of the vehicle by at least $5,000.

The word

The online survey was conducted by a team of MBA students at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business. The survey went on the assumption that 100 miles is the expected range for an EV to be minimally acceptable as a highway-capable traditional car replacement.

The survey showed that potential EV consumers would be willing to pay a premium for that range and would accept a lower-priced alternative (70-80 mile range) if the price difference was at least $5,000.

Further, 55% of respondents said that they would pay that $5,000 premium if the vehicle had a 150-160 mile range added. Only 9% would reduce range to below 50 miles for a substantial discount.

THINK is considering the idea of offering a range of battery options rather than the fixed, 100 mile range option currently offered in Europe.

And so ...

A total of 367 consumers completed the survey.

Photo credits: THINK

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