New ad campaign part of $2 Billion effort to promote electric cars

While Volkswagen's dieselgate fiasco has been really disappointing, a recent development could be a pivot in the right direction. As part of the settlement, the company has launched their Electrify America “Normal Now” ad campaign as part of a $2 billion investment to encourage the adoption of zero-emission vehicles. The campaign looks to normalize the ownership of electric cars in an attempt to increase EV adoption.

Above: A look at Electrify America's ad campaign (Source: Electrify America)

The electric car ad campaign is light-hearted in nature and kicks off with a pseudo-90's informational website. In addition to the website, the campaign will consist of "online videos, streaming TV ads, digital banner ads, social media ads, paid search, and streaming audio and podcast." It's refreshing to see this campaign rolling out as car companies are just starting to run ads surrounding their electric cars.

Above: A 90's style website has fun with the kitschy, nostalgic look of the internet's early websites (Source: Electrify America)

Just a month ago, a study that JD Power undertook found a majority of people didn't have sufficient confidence in electric cars or autonomous vehicles. Many stated they'd feel more favorably towards EVs if they'd been more informed. Studies like this have proven how vital awareness campaigns are to the adoption of electric cars.

 Above: An Electrify America commercial (Youtube: Electrify America) 

Richard Steinberg, Senior Director of Green Cities, Marketing and Communications at Electrify America stated, “A large percentage of the car buying public cite functional concerns about EVs, like range anxiety, charge time and cost, as reasons why they wouldn’t drive electric; however, the Normal Now campaign is inspired by the insight that there is actually a deeper, more emotional set of barriers standing in the way of consideration and adoption."

Above: Poking fun at prior resistance to new tech (Source: Electrify America)

"We believe that fear of change and lack of exposure to EVs in pop culture is making people view electric vehicles as too different from what they’re used to, and therefore are striving to normalize EVs with this latest educational campaign," Steinberg concludes.

In addition, Electrify America also created a few infographics as part of their educational efforts (see below). The ad campaign is scheduled to run through December 2021.

Infographics

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An earlier version of this article appeared on EVBite. EVBite is an electric vehicle specific news site dedicated to keeping consumers up-to-date on any developments in the ever-expanding EV landscape.