Why Electric Cars Need Behavioural Science, Not Bigger Batteries!

In this week's episode Imogen talks to behavioral economics expert Rory Sutherland who explains why understanding human psychology might be more important than building bigger batteries.

Rory, who founded Ogilvy's behavioral science unit, shares brilliant insights on everything from why we need to "solve for anxiety rather than range" to why giving people rail vouchers might increase car usage (yes, really). This episode is packed with counterintuitive ideas that will change how you think about transport, behavior change, and innovation.

00:00 - Introduction

02:04 - What is behavioral economics?

03:08 - Range anxiety: Solving for anxiety, not range

06:32 - Why speeding barely saves time

10:28 - Transport for Humans: The bus information problem

16:51 - Why 95% of EV drivers never go back

22:37 - Network effects and why behavioral change takes time

28:10 - Travel smarter, don't travel faster

33:25 - Better alternatives to EV grants

38:03 - Removing political heat from EVs

39:30 - The Heathrow Pod: Why it's magical and valuable

44:23 - The heat pump vs. air conditioning debate

46:51 - Why test drives should be two weeks, not three days

49:41 - Why psychologists arrive too late to solve problems

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