Tesla is having a tough time convincing women to go electric — how could it change that?

Data shows that Tesla is having a more difficult time convincing women to buy its vehicles than competitors in the premium segment.

Is it a Tesla problem or an electric car problem and how could they change that?

According to data from Edmunds via USA Today, 69% of Tesla vehicles in the first quarter of 2019 were registered by men versus only 31% by women.

While men do buy more premium vehicles than women on average, Tesla’s mix is worse than all other brands in the segment:

• Lexus: 51% men, 49% women
• Acura: 54% men, 46% women
• Lincoln: 56% men, 44% women
• Mercedes-Benz: 57% men, 43% women
• Cadillac: 58% men, 42% women
• BMW: 60% men, 40% women

However, when breaking down the brands and looking at specific electric cars, the mix of men and women buyers are much more similar to Tesla’s:

• Chevrolet Bolt EV: 69% men, 31% women
• Nissan Leaf: 66% men, 34% women

This might indicate that the difficulty appealing to women is broader than just with Tesla, and could apply to the greater electric vehicle market in the U.S.

Electrek’s Take

This is an opportunity for growth for Tesla and electric cars in general, but I am not exactly sure how to do it.

There are definitely ways to advertise for women more than men, but Tesla doesn’t do advertising in the traditional sense, so it leaves an important tool out of the game.

Tesla could potentially gear their marketing content more for women by featuring more of them in promotional videos on their social media platform.

Maybe they could highlight more features that women tend to care more about than men on average, like safety over acceleration, and being environmentally friendly, for example.

Electrek’s audience is overwhelmingly male, but if we have a few women here, I’d like them to let us know some ideas about how they think Tesla could appeal more to them.

You can let us know your insights in the comment section below.