Children driving the EV future

Children are playing a key role in accelerating the switch to electric cars, although many are unable yet to get behind the wheel themselves.

That’s the key finding in an ABB E-Mobility study released on World EV Day, September 9.

Nearly 60% of parents reported being educated on environmental issues by their children, with more than two-thirds discussing EV purchase plans with them, and one-third of US parents who drive an EV said it was pressure from their children which made them make the switch.

In spite of growing desire, almost half of parents said their employer’s policies did not support the switch to driving electric.

The study of 2500 parents (with children aged eight to 16) and 2500 children (eight to 16), involved participants from ABB e-mobility’s 10 largest markets – Canada, China, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, UK and USA.

“On World EV Day, it is encouraging to see the results of our global study reveal the excitement and determination of young people, as well as the increasing dialogue and action across generations, to move toward a low-carbon future,” says ABB e-mobility chief executive Frank Muehlon.

“It is also clear, however, that many people still do not feel empowered to take the climate-conscious steps they are clearly ready for.

“It is our hope that those in positions of power will work together to quickly implement electrification policies which enable a cleaner, greener society, just as we have committed to doing with our ABB Sustainability Strategy 2030.”

With nearly eight out of 10 parents (79.2%) and three-quarters of children (73.6%) considering the current global environmental situation to be bad, the survey revealed a good deal of intergenerational interaction over the causes of climate change and steps towards mitigating it.

Almost half of the children have told their parents to be more environmentally friendly, while 58.1% of parents said they have been educated by their children on environmental issues.

About 68% of children said they are excited about driving electric in the future, with 82.6% (rising to 94.6% in China) stating they intend to drive electric (52.4%) or hybrid (30.2%) when they are old enough.

Some 80% of children believe they have the ability to influence their parents’ purchasing decisions over big ticket items like changing the family car.

So it is perhaps unsurprising that 78.6% of parents said they would switch to an electric or hybrid model if they were to buy a new car in the next three years, the survey reveals.

Other topics covered in the survey further revealed both the momentum towards e-mobility and areas in which work remains to be done. Almost eight out of 10 parents (98% in China) said that having an EV charger installed would make them more likely to buy a property.

For its part, ABB has committed to transitioning its entire global fleet of more than 10,000 vehicles to EVs by the end of the decade as part of its 2030 Sustainability Strategy. In the last year alone, the number of charging stations installed at ABB sites increased by almost 100%, from 545 to 1082.