Women Are Accelerating the Switch to Electric Cars

Not long ago, my partner -- a man -- and I wanted to test drive a plug-in Honda Clarity at a local dealership in San Diego. After informing us they had no electric car available for a test drive (indicative of an industry-wide inventory problem the Sierra Club documents in our Rev Up EVs report), our male salesperson would not make eye contact with me. When I asked questions about their models on the lot, he would only answer to my partner, despite my partner not asking any questions because he was too busy tending to our young toddlers.

Today, up to 85 percent of car purchasing decisions are made by women, and a lot of us are excited about electric cars. Just as gender norms change over time, so too should the stereotype that EVs are a uniquely male interest. It’s one myth among many associated with electric cars.

The truth is, women are proving that EVs are not just for men. Numbers show that, though EV buyers are indeed predominantly male, more women are making the switch to drive EVs. The Center for Sustainable Energy found that in 2012, women represented 21 percent of their voluntary EV consumer survey and in 2015, that number increased to 27 percent.

However, who buys a car doesn't necessarily indicate who will be driving the car. Women are often not the ones closing the deal and signing the paperwork. And who can blame them? Car dealerships still aren’t the most welcoming place for women.

While we may be starting to close the EV gap between white men and women, we still have an even longer road to pave when it comes to women of color gaining the same access to electric transportation. The CSE survey mentioned earlier found that 64 percent of their 18,661 survey takers were white, and only 2 percent were black.

There are clear demographic gaps when it comes to who has access to the EV market, but this has less to do with intrinsic truth about gender or race and more a result of the social and economic power structures at play within our society.

The good news is, these sexist and racist barriers are being dismantled and transportation justice is accelerating in diverse, multifaceted ways at the state and local levels. As EVs continue to become more affordable and more states adopt rebates, as tax credits are extended, as fights are underway to replace punitive registration fees with fair alternatives, as EV car-sharing geared toward low-income residents expands, as charging infrastructure installation increases (and not just in the white gentrified neighborhoods), and as more transit agencies commit to 100% electric bus fleets, these policies are expanding the benefits of zero emission vehicles by giving more access to women on the margins of EV adoption, including women on low and fixed income, women of color, disabled women and elderly women.

And female leaders are pushing for our collective equitable, swift transition to EVs -- from their seats as policy-makers, from the desks of our organizations, from the apps of the small businesses we run, and even from our race cars.

Though women dominate car-buying decisions, they are strikingly absent from holding positions in industry sales and as executives. One notable woman who has broken this ‘glass sunroof’ is CEO of General Motors, Mary Barra. While we really wish her company would stop lobbying for weaker federal fuel efficiency standards, she is speaking out in favor of expanding the federal EV tax credit, which starts to sunset for automakers that reach 200,000 EV sales.

Another woman who stands out in the auto industry is racecar driver and electric car advocate, Leilani Munter who not only drives a Tesla but is fighting the ban on Tesla’s direct sales models in several states.

Some female entrepreneurs are also thriving in the electric car space, including EV Match - the Airbnb of EV chargers - and Luscious Garage, the all-women owned auto repair shop for EVs.

Many would argue a Super Woman of EV advocacy is Mary Nichols, the Chair of the California Air Resources Board. The agency Nichols chairs sets strong EV policy in the nation’s most populous state and has an impact on the EV industry and our air quality, not only nationwide but worldwide.

Tonia Buell, co-creator of the West Coast Electric Highway is also a founding member of the international group, Women of Electric Vehicles (WEV). One of WEV’s biggest annual meet ups is held during EV Roadmap, the largest annual EV conference in the nation. WEV began in 2013 with a handful of members, growing to 80 women in 2017 and this year, more than 100 women are expected to convene from national advocacy organizations, leaders of charging companies and advisors to elected officials.

“Women popularized EVs in the first place, and are still playing key roles as both EV purchasers and leaders within the movement itself,” says Chelsea Sexton, electric car advisor and one of the co-founders of Plug In America.

Paradoxically to today’s stereotype of being ‘boys’ toys’, electric cars were initially considered the cars for women when they first hit our roads in the early twentieth century. EVs were seen as ‘less masculine’ than their dirty fuel counterparts because they were quieter, slower and easier to operate -- a stereotype created and perpetuated by the marketing of the automanufactuers. Even Henry Ford’s wife Clara drove a 1914 Detroit electric car.

As women, we fight for our collective liberation - to simply have the right to speak, to be included and have value. And we continue that fight alongside the fight for a clean transportation future for all, without leaving anyone in the dust.

As women, we are not, for the most part, selling electric cars or leading the industries that manufacture them -- but many of us are driving them and advancing transportation justice to ensure that zero emission vehicles are accessible and enjoyed by all. Considering that today, EVs are cleaner and more popular than ever, women should be proud to be leading that charge.