April 12, 2022
-Driving.ca
The state of Washington is investing nearly US$500,000 in getting to know a subset of drivers known as gasoline “superusers” in hopes it will better understand how to convince them to switch over to less environmentally disruptive behaviours.
American advocacy group Coltura defines “superusers” in a previous report as those 10 per cent of U.S. drivers who are estimated to consume around 32 per cent of the gasoline used in light-duty vehicles in the country. Often living in the states and rural areas in the middle of the country, this demo uses more fuel than 60 per cent of the users on the other end of the spectrum combined.
It’s got to the point state legislators in Washington recently approved a US$450,000 budget to study how these big gas-station spenders might be convinced to switch to an electric vehicle, and how much they could save in gas – and, more importantly, cash – if they did, along with other potentially pro-EV stats.
Superusers, let us hear you rev your engines if you’re ready for change! Er, no, wait, maybe cut back on the revving.
A report based on the study is due in January 2023, by which time several new EV trucks may have hit the market — along with a few more gas-guzzle-y powertrains, like Mercedes-Benz’s resurrected V8 engines for its SUVs.
