"We've been purchasing a vehicle under 10 grand for years because we don't really care what we drive," the Melbourne-based parent of two says.
It also found men were much more likely to consider EVs as their next vehicle — 71 per cent compared to 34 per cent of women — and less likely to consider a hybrid or plug-in vehicle — 10 per cent compared to 24 per cent of women."You don't see many female mechanics out there, you certainly don't see many female automotive journalists — I can vouch for that — and it's rare to see auto brands headed by female executives.
"It really comes down to marketing, and how effectively are communicating with their audience," Mr Hughes says. Although both women and men report liking technology as a primary motivation for buying an EV, men were more than twice as likely to list "being the first to have something" as a motivating factor.When it came to considering an EV for future purchases, women were more interested in pragmatic factors, primarily range but also tax credit availability and avoiding the rising cost of petrol. Men were most concerned with vehicle brand, followed by range.
"If women were in charge of making the car purchases, I think we'd see a different kind of fleet out there."Dr Broadbent expects to see the gender balance shift as EVs become cheaper and more available.In the meantime, Ms Dudley-Nicholson encourages women to feel empowered to buy EVs.