This blog post examines why electric vehicles are rejected even by environmentally conscious modern consumers, critically exploring the underlying selfish consumer psychology at play.
Recently, persistent hazy weather due to fine dust has heightened public awareness about environmental protection. Previously, a television program also raised awareness about environmental pollution by showcasing celebrities living by minimizing waste and recycling discarded items. Consequently, consumers are making efforts to choose eco-friendly products with lower pollutant emissions at the same price and to eat organic foods for health reasons. For those with this environmental awareness, electric vehicles would be an ideal choice.
Yet in reality, electric vehicles haven’t gained significant popularity. How often have you encountered electric vehicles in daily life? Since electric vehicles and regular gasoline cars look very similar, you might not have recognized them even if you saw one. Also, how many people around you have considered buying an electric vehicle? How often have you seen electric vehicles in television commercials? Even if you’ve heard the name Tesla, an electric vehicle company, in the media, you likely don’t frequently encounter electric vehicles in your daily life. Why are environmentally friendly electric vehicles so hard to find around us?
When you ask people considering buying a car, or those who bought a vehicle after electric vehicles launched, about purchasing an electric vehicle, the majority express dissatisfaction. They often voice concerns like, “I still don’t trust the performance of electric vehicles,” “How do I charge an electric vehicle?” are common doubts. Economic concerns like “Electric vehicles are more expensive than expected” and “Government subsidy policies lack structure” are also frequently mentioned. Some even question, “Isn’t the electricity powering electric vehicles still generated by burning fossil fuels? Are they truly eco-friendly?” These negative consumer perspectives aren’t entirely wrong. In fact, they highlight several hurdles electric vehicles must overcome.
So where has the environmental consciousness gone? Why do modern people, who have worked hard to reduce waste and recycle to protect the environment, show such a cold attitude toward electric vehicles? Looking deeper into modern environmental awareness reveals the reason.
Actions like worrying about fine dust, using eco-friendly products, and consuming organic food primarily aim to protect the environment. However, upon closer inspection, these behaviors also contain benefits for humans themselves. For example, people strive to protect the environment to live healthier and longer lives, out of concern for their own bronchial health or fear of environmental hormones. Ultimately, humans pay greater attention to environmental protection when it benefits them personally. From this perspective, the reason electric vehicles haven’t caught on becomes clear. While electric vehicles are environmentally friendly products, they don’t significantly benefit users in the short term. Instead, they can impose burdens on users regarding performance or charging. That’s why people don’t show much interest in electric vehicles. This is why interest in electric vehicles often remains mere curiosity, failing to translate into purchases. It also explains why consumers make excuses and turn away, even when governments offer various incentives to promote electric vehicle adoption. Simultaneously, it serves as an example of humanity’s self-centered attitude toward environmental protection.
The selfishness toward the environment revealed through electric vehicles is, in truth, hardly surprising. It is no exaggeration to say the history of science and technology is a history of environmental destruction; humans have severely damaged the Earth’s environment. Since the dawn of agriculture, rivers and fields have been transformed to suit human needs. The invention of the internal combustion engine led to burning coal, creating pollutants like fine dust. Now, we have reached the level of manipulating nature’s living organisms through genetic modification. Today, we wear masks in polluted air, buy bottled water to drink, and suffer the pains of global warming—perhaps this is the price we pay for having ravaged nature all this time.
Yet our attitude toward coping with this punishment is far too complacent. Humans still haven’t broken the habit of destroying the environment for their own gain, and even when paying the price for their sins, they try to do so in a way that leaves them with a little profit. So what should we do? Let’s go back to the electric car and think about it.
The biggest reason we hesitate to buy electric cars is probably the economic burden, namely the price. The money leaving our own pockets right now feels more significant than protecting the environment. This stems from a myopic selfishness focused solely on immediate gains. Yet, broadening our perspective slightly reveals these problems can be easily resolved. Why have we separated the environment and humanity in our thinking? Why do we forget that humans live within the larger framework of the environment? Why do we keep forgetting that buying an electric vehicle is ultimately a way to maintain a healthier, longer life?
Electric vehicles should prompt us to reflect on our selfish attitude toward the environment. We must thoroughly realize that humans do not exist separately from the environment; we live within it. We must remember that consumption for the environment is not a donation without cost, but an investment in the future. Let the selfishness of humans, revealed once again through electric vehicles, be an opportunity for thorough reflection and a renewal of our love for the environment.
