What type of car driver are you?

EV Small Talk
1

There have been many different studies over the years with regards to the large array of car drivers we have around the world. However, a Swiss Association of Car Distributors survey highlighted the different types of car drivers and we thought it would be interesting to see in which category you believe you belong.

The four different types of drivers include: –

  1. Pragmatists

This type of car driver is very adaptable to their environment and will choose alternatives to car transport as and when applicable. They are not overly environmentally cautious and believe that the outlook of car drivers has to change before there is a need for more environmentally friendly vehicles.

  1. Environmentalist

This group of drivers is very much in favour of helping the environment, reducing harmful emissions and making vehicles are small as possible. They are often willing to join environmental campaigns and assist with reducing the array of emissions from vehicles of today for the good of the future.

  1. Comfort

While in their minds the comfort driver group appreciate the benefits of helping the environment, at the end of the day their final choice will be determined by comfort and cost.

  1. Prestige

This class of driver is very much orientated by the cost of a vehicle and what it has to offer. They are not necessarily bothered about the environment and believe this is more a technology issue as oppose to an issue which society needs to tackle.

While it is maybe not as straightforward as it seems to place each and every driver within a particular category, broadly, in which category would you place yourself?

2

I’m a pragmatist. I drive a 2012 Prius V for work. I’m on the road most days and can easily do 300-500 miles a day some days all over New England. A pure electric won’t do for this of course so I’ve fallen in love with the hybrids. This is my second Prius and, although it doesn’t get the mileage of the hatchback, it does have more room for making deliveries to my customers than the hatchback.

My last Prius (a 2004 with 226,000 miles on it) was replaced (forcibly) by an encounter with a large deer in September of 2012. These Priuses (Prius’s) are incredibly economical when you consider the lack of regular car type maintenance required. Mine still had the original brakes on it…

Bob in MA

3

I would class myself as a pragmatist as I walk to work some days. I believe we need to see a wholesale change in the way we look at driving and the environment before the sector will go mass market.

This time around too much money, time and effort has been put into the sector by governments and industry for it to fail. The long running worldwide economic difficulties may have delayed the large scale take-up of the vehicles, but momentum is growing.