Tesla is gearing up to launch the Model 3, and if a new survey is right, it could dominate the marketplace for years to come because the teens love it. Respondents said that they believed Tesla would be the most successful in electric cars, and people who had a preference for the company were also the most likely to purchase an electric car. The Model 3, set to enter mass production later this year, could answer the call of a new generation of electric car buyers.
The survey, conducted by Driving-Tests.org, asked tens of thousands of website visitors over the last two months a series of questions around the coming revolution in automobiles. Electric cars may be skyrocketing in sales figures, but automakers are already setting their sights on autonomous vehicles changing the landscape further.
Respondents to the survey said that they expected Tesla to be the most successful in the electric and self-driving car sector over the next 10 years. A staggering 23.4 percent thought Musk’s company would come out top dog over the decade, 3.2 percentage points more than its second-place rival Toyota. Ford, one of the world’s most renowned car brands, scored just 13.4 percent.
Those stats have a sharp age gap. 13-19-year-olds tended to rank Tesla in first place, while all older age groups placed Toyota in first. That’s good news for the Model 3 — the $35,000 vehicle will compete on the low range of the market, alongside the likes of the $30,680 Nissan Leaf and $36,620 Chevy Bolt.
Although it’s still a fair amount of money, federal tax subsidies can help bring prices down, and statistically, people in their twenties earn less on average than older people. Previous data also shows that people tend to stick with car brands throughout their life — if Tesla can capture this young audience early, it could foster a group of buyers for life.
Proportion of people who said "yes" to wanting to buy an electric car, broken down by which car maker respondents thought would be most successful.
There’s a price-conscious group of Tesla fans about to come of age, which spells good news for the Model 3, but people who are Tesla fans also tend to be most interested in buying an electric car. Out of the people that ranked Tesla as their favorite electric car brand, 37.6 percent said they would consider purchasing an electric vehicle over a comparably-priced gas vehicle. That was more than any other brand surveyed.
The results show there is a firm group of young people interested in electric cars, and as the industry shifts toward these new technologies, Tesla may find itself best placed to capitalize on this group as they start to consider purchasing a car. The company just needs to ensure its buyers stay interested when the federal tax credits end.
