Range Anxiety: A Dismissive Term

Industry terminology is largely crafted by needs of individuals to truncate complex communications into simple language. In some professions, single words have profound meanings as to the precise actions which must be taken by a team in a split second to ensure the fastest response time. The availing issues faced by the general public when attempting to use an electric vehicle really deserves more than two words.

It's fine that inside the industry, we truncate. It's fine that engineers can use confusing acronyms to describe devices with 5 words or more in their names. But, this is part of understanding the confines of an agreed upon sub-language. We, as an industry, define our terminology outside of the mainstream colloquial. Jargon used to be the term to define phrases or words which become unintelligible to the general public when used in public communications.

But what's happening in electrification at the moment is worse than Jargon. Instead of missing the words all together, dictionary terminology and established norms are conveying an all together much more disastrous meaning. Range Anxiety. A person's emotional response to range. Unregulated emotional capacity sometimes associated with a need for prescription medications, or a feeling of unease. Out of all the words available to mankind, this is what the automotive industry settled upon. Emotions.

While emotional connection to vehicles is arguably the most important factor when purchasing a vehicle, hesitation around electrification may not be as irrational as proclaimed. Nearly half of BEV owners are leaving the market for ICE equipped alternatives when they return to a dealership, but the communication from the industry is Range Anxiety. The emotional state of the consumer. Surely not the ecosystem of charging stations, the readiness of individual points, the availability of restrooms or suspiciously unlit areas. If your definition of anxiety includes having a full bladder approaching a questionable charger in a maybe bad side of town with no lighting -- many people might agree. Those circumstances surely could incite a condition of anxiety.

But what does this do for consumers? Well, it points all the systemic issues back at them! Regardless of intent, the automotive industry is calling consumers out for having anxiety. Would you want to do business with someone who applies emotional labels to your personal decisions? Maybe, if they're helpful. But probably not in this case.

Automotive engineers and leaders have long dealt with the emotional states of consumers. This is the entire point of having a design studio. How does this rolling piece of art make a person feel? Which demographic does the business believe the aesthetics appeal to? What accompanying ride and handling characteristics best suit the feeling of this vehicle?

As an industry, we have business processes which aim to understand emotional states to help drive the business. We don't label customers. We don't put in their face their frugal, hurried market segment. Why? Because it's bad for business. It's bad for brands. But somehow, when it comes to electrification we've decided to point the emotions back at the customer when our industry's solution may fall short of their expectations. It's not the battery's faults, Edwin, it's your anxiety.

So, if you care about your brand value, customer perception, product portfolio, strategic roadmap, or electrification as a whole -- leave "Range Anxiety" as a term for your engineering groups to meter -- or maybe refuse the term altogether. Find new words to engage with consumers around their hesitancies. Because pointing the finger at their emotions isn't going to help coax out the complex story as to why they might not want to deal with electric vehicles. And the polarization of electrification has been getting worse. Inclusive language can help build bridges to gain understanding. Please, please, think about the terminology.