Podcast 341

52 mins

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.

Timestamps

0:00 Introduction
2:04 What is behavioral economics?
3:08 Range anxiety: Solving for anxiety, not range
6:32 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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Why Electric Cars Need Behavioural Science, Not Bigger Batteries!
The Everything Electric Podcast

Podcast 341

October 20, 2025

On the move or at home listen to this podcast here…