Statistically-speaking, what separates the buyer of an electric vehicle from the buyer of a hybrid electric vehicle? A number of things, as a matter of fact.
In previous studies, we learned, for example, that Tesla Model S enthusiasts are more likely to be interested in SpaceX, digital technology, and automobiles, while Toyota Prius drivers are more likely to be interested in Apple, sustainability, and fringe sciences. Another study revealed that electric vehicle drivers appear to be a lot “greener” than other drivers, including hybrid electric vehicle drivers, and they’re more likely to have a solar roof. A recent study by the financial experts at Experian revealed some more interesting statistics regarding electric vehicle owners, compared to the hybrid brethren.
The first interesting data point should come as no surprise, that electric vehicle buyers are typically wealthier than hybrid electric vehicle buyers. Some 20% of electric vehicle buyers earn over $175,000 per household, while only 12% of hybrid electric vehicle buyers fit into that bracket. Considering that electric vehicles are more expensive, such as the Nissan Leaf is more expensive than the Toyota Prius, we kind of expect to find that people with money and good credit ratings are buying electric vehicles.
What may come as a surprise is that electric vehicle buyers are younger, on average, than hybrid electric vehicle buyers. Experian’s study revealed that 55% of electric vehicle buyers are aged between 36 and 55 years of age, and just 26% are older than 55 years of age. Hybrid electric vehicle owners, on the other hand, 45% of them, are older than 55 years of age. Part of this difference could be the fact that electric vehicles aren’t seen just as the latest technology, but also the latest gadgets, albeit a two-ton gadget, which the older hybrid electric vehicle population just don’t have the finances or interest in keeping up with.
Photo credit: Tom Raftery / Foter / Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
