New study: Building support for electric vehicles

An experiment with 912 American adults found that listening to real-world stories about EV success in Norway and Greensboro, North Carolina, significantly increased participants' perceptions of EV reliability, affordability, and practicality. These stories also led to stronger support for national charging networks, electric buses, and tax rebates, suggesting that narrative-based communication is an effective tool for accelerating the transition to electric vehicles.

• Listening to audio stories about electric vehicles (EVs) significantly improved participants' beliefs that EVs are reliable, practical, affordable, and beneficial for the environment compared to a control group.
• The EV stories increased public support for specific policies, including the creation of a national charging station network, the adoption of electric buses, and the provision of tax rebates for EV buyers.
• The experiment demonstrated that communicating real-world examples—such as high EV adoption in Norway and cost savings from electric buses in Greensboro, North Carolina—makes consumers more likely to consider purchasing an EV in the future.

APA

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (2020). New study: Building support for electric vehicles. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/new-study-building-support-for-electric-vehicles/

Chicago

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. New study: Building support for electric vehicles. 2020. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/new-study-building-support-for-electric-vehicles/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Yale Program on Climate Change Communication |title=New study: Building support for electric vehicles |date=20 October 2020 |url=https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/new-study-building-support-for-electric-vehicles/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{yaleprogramonclimatechangecommunication2020new, author = {{Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}}, title = {{New study: Building support for electric vehicles}}, institution = {Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}, year = {2020}, month = oct, url = {https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/new-study-building-support-for-electric-vehicles/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }