Ford director explains why electric cars need gas

90% of the respondents in the United States, Europe and China do not think that electric vehicles have advantages such as fast acceleration and excellent driving experience; 80% of the respondents in the United States believe that they will not buy pure electric vehicles because they are worried that pure electric vehicles cannot cope with extreme weather. Even 42% of the respondents in the United States believe that pure electric vehicles also need to be refueled to run normally. Ford's current survey and research results in the US, China and European markets have surprised many people. Ordinary consumers' perception of electric vehicles is still very conservative and even biased.

A study conducted by Ford shows that current car consumers still do not understand the nature and benefits of electric vehicles. The results of the study show that overall, consumers have many misunderstandings about electric vehicles. This is particularly prominent in the United States, where 42% of Americans said they believe that electric vehicles still need to be filled with gasoline to drive.

One of the reasons behind this misunderstanding may be the confusion between electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles. The latter two types of vehicles are still equipped with internal combustion engines and are usually called "electrified vehicles", which is very similar to the name "electric vehicle".

Ted Cannis, Ford's global director of electrification, said another reason for this misunderstanding may be consumer habits, because owners of hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles still need to go to gas stations regularly. Therefore, recharging the car's power source with a power source at home, just like charging ordinary electronic devices, may not seem natural to some consumers.

Of all the people Ford surveyed, 90% of the respondents did not think that electric vehicles have advantages such as fast acceleration and excellent driving experience. About 67% of Americans and 68% of Europeans believe that electric vehicles do not have the ability to tow other vehicles, while Ford has just demonstrated that its electric version of the F-150 has the ability to tow 1 million pounds of cargo. In addition, 80% of Americans believe that they will not buy electric vehicles due to extreme weather. Nearly 65% ​​of Americans who intend to buy AWD vehicles said they would not consider buying electric vehicles either.

Even though electrification has become a recognized trend in the automotive industry, it is still "unpopular" in the eyes of most consumers. Ted Cannis lamented, "From the current perspective, there is still a big difference between 'what electric vehicles can actually do' and 'what consumers think electric vehicles can do'. Strengthening education to let people correctly understand electric vehicles is a task that should be carried out immediately."

In this blog post, Cannis spends a lot of time describing Ford's efforts to build electric vehicles. He said that Ford will launch a fast, convenient and safe electric vehicle that will be able to meet all the expectations of people for internal combustion engine vehicles. The company has not yet shown this electric vehicle, but it is very likely that this car will be the Mustang-inspired Mach E SUV, which may be launched in 2020.