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Why Do People Resist New Technology Like Electric Vehicles?
David Shultz
David Shultz reports on clean technology and electric vehicles, among other industries, for dot.LA. His writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Outside, Nautilus and many other publications.
Last week California air regulators voted to ban all new internal combustion car sales starting in 2035. The news was met with a predictable mix of responses: Some lauded the decision as forward-thinking and environmentally responsible; others saw it as government overreach–an attack on consumer freedom and the free market.
Whether the arguments against EVs are in good faith or not (they’re often not), the fact remains that this burgeoning technology has been met with fierce resistance since Teslas started hitting the road back in 2008. It’s easy to find examples of people keying EVs, rolling coal to spite them or blocking chargers with gas-powered cars.
A part of human nature is naturally resistant to change and to the unknown. It has served us well evolutionarily over the past 200,000 years. Tradition keeps us safe when it comes to eating the right wild berries or choosing a route to the next town. It wouldn’t surprise me to learn that there were people in the Roman Empire spreading myths about how using indoor plumbing makes your sword hand weak, or that riding in a chariot would make your uterus fall out. Even without political tribalism and pressure from the fossil fuel industry, new tech can be divisive.
Rosabeth M. Kanter, a professor of business at Harvard Business School, who studies these ideas, says the number one reason people resist change is that they fear a loss of control over their lives. This may explain why the ban on new gas cars in California has faced some backlash.
“For people who are feeling like life is slipping out of their control–that sinister forces are pushing them around–they're likely to not want to be forced into making a change,” says Kanter. Whether or not the state could have accomplished the same goal without a mandate is debatable, but due to the California Air Resources Board’s successful history of driving national policy with ambitious state-level laws, it’s not surprising they chose to take that risk.
However, Kanter also notes that plenty of new tech innovations have been welcomed with open arms. Take the smartphone, for instance. Steve Jobs announced the iPhone in 2007. By 2017, 77% of Americans owned a smartphone. Cars, of course, were always going to be slower transition—after all, the lifecycle of a car is at least three or four times as long as that of a smartphone. But why has there been so much cultural resistance to the growing EV market share?
The biggest and most obvious answer is cost. Smartphones aren’t cheap, but there’s a big difference between $700 and $70,000. The current batch of EVs on the road are simply too expensive for the average person to afford. Knowing that demand would outstrip initial manufacturing capacity, EV makers have chosen to offer luxury models first in order to make as much money as possible while ramping up production. And while legacy OEMs are beginning to enter the scene and change this dynamic, we’re still early in this story and costs are still extremely high.
Kanter says that to get consumers to adopt new tech, the transition has to be smooth. It has to be easy. Remember taking your flip phone to a Verizon or AT&T and trading it in for a smartphone? These companies made it simple and offered excellent financing plans–just a few extra dollars added to your bill every month. And while there are about a thousand different EV rebates and incentives on offer (see Wednesday’s newsletter) finding and understanding how to apply these deals is a whole lot harder than trading in a Motorola Razr for an iPhone.
Regarding smooth transitions: Charging infrastructure remains another huge impediment. While EV range anxiety is perceived to be much more of an issue than it actually is, the fact remains that America’s charging infrastructure is inadequate–especially rural areas in the middle of the country. If California wants to get everyone in an EV as quickly as possible, the state will need to make EV charging as seamless as gassing up.
Another thing Kanter says made the transition to smartphones different from EVs and other technology. New phones offered immediate and obvious benefits. Maps and internet access alone would’ve sold the devices. They also connected customers to networks that were pretty much inaccessible without the device. Nobody wants to miss out on the group chat drama. “The minute they see things that are benefits for themselves, you don't have to argue with them anymore,” says Kanter. “The benefits are right there in front of them.”
The benefits of electric vehicles, on the other hand, are more subtle or even existential. Calculating the cost of recharging the vehicle or the cost per mile of driving almost requires some familiarity with high-school physics. While the math isn’t necessarily complex or difficult, it’s new and foreign enough to present a barrier. Yes, it’s usually cheaper per mile to drive an EV than to fill up with gas, but to figure that out you have to know what a kilowatt hour is and how many your car consumes per mile of travel and how much electricity costs per kilowatt hour. Climate benefits only really apply at a society- and perhaps planetary level.
Of course you have this entire debate playing out against a climate in which batteries and gasoline have somehow become political footballs. If “opposing any policy from the other side” remains de rigueur in Washington, EV adoption will be slowed by politics…until the transition is truly seamless and the benefits are impossible to ignore.
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David Shultz
David Shultz reports on clean technology and electric vehicles, among other industries, for dot.LA. His writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Outside, Nautilus and many other publications.
dot.LA's 2021 'Intersect' Summit Website is Live: Register to Attend!
10:28 AM | March 04, 2021
The line between tech and entertainment companies has never been thinner; the top Hollywood players are becoming software behemoths, the major tech firms are tripling down on their content investments, and a number of startups are finding new ways to blend the two worlds. From the very heart of this convergence between tech, media and entertainment in Los Angeles,
dot.LA is pleased to announce "Intersect," a first-of-its-kind summit convening this new super-sector, held live virtually on Wednesday April 28.
At Intersect, a diverse group of leaders -- including top executives, entrepreneurs, and investors -- will come together for a day of sharing ideas, shifting perspectives, and building community. For those hoping to win in the next era of tech, media, and entertainment. This is a can't-miss event. #dotlaintersect
Intersect Summit - Website is Live!
Register here!
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Annie Burford
Annie Burford is dot.LA's director of events. She's an event marketing pro with over ten years of experience producing innovative corporate events, activations and summits for tech startups to Fortune 500 companies. Annie has produced over 200 programs in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York City working most recently for a China-based investment bank heading the CEC Capital Tech & Media Summit, formally the Siemer Summit.
http://www.linkedin.com/in/annieburford
annie@dot.la
LA Tech Darling Honey Will Adorn Clippers Jerseys This Year
05:00 AM | November 20, 2020
The Los Angeles Clippers, owned by former Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer, is stitching a new logo on game jerseys this year. Los Angeles' tech darling Honey will appear on the basketball team's uniform as part of a partnership inked last fall.
The deal allows Honey, the L.A.-based online shopping and discount platform, to advertise overseas and share team content on its digital and social media platforms.
"We look at our last six years since Steve Ballmer bought the team as sort of a restart of the Clippers built around those same principles of toughness and grittiness, determination," said Clippers sales officer Scott Sonnenberg. "That's the type of players we have on the court and that's the type of brand that Honey is."
Honey already had its name on practice jerseys and the Clippers' new training center. The company also led a $10 ticket campaign for home games during the 2019-2020 season.
It's the Clippers' second major corporate partner after dating site Bumble. The NBA was the first major U.S. sports company to let teams display partners on player jerseys, a decision Sonnenberg described as groundbreaking.
The Clippers have tried to position themselves as tech leaders within the NBA with their AI-powered Clippers CourtVision platform, a software program that overlays player stats and animated graphics over live games.
Earlier this year another L.A. startup, the sneaker seller GOAT, tried to tap consumers in the profitable NBA market launching their first television campaign during the NBA playoffs.
Founded in 2012, Honey offers a free platform that notifies users about price drops and tracks the lowest prices on items listed across ecommerce sites. It was acquired by PayPal last yeast for $4 billion.
Starting Friday, the browser extension will offer discount codes to fans who purchase Clippers gear on the shopping platform.
Even though stadiums are shuttered to paying fans, sales of merchandise have remained steady through the pandemic, said Sonnenberg. NBA fans streaming games online are still exposed to brand partnerships.
"Honey's a great match for us," he said. "Their entrepreneurial spirit, their toughness, their grittiness."
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Francesca Billington
Francesca Billington is a freelance reporter. Prior to that, she was a general assignment reporter for dot.LA and has also reported for KCRW, the Santa Monica Daily Press and local publications in New Jersey. She graduated from Princeton in 2019 with a degree in anthropology.
https://twitter.com/frosebillington
francesca@dot.la
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