UWAFT’s Outreach Team consists of five University of Waterloo Environment and Business students, who have been working on their fourth year research project over the past eight months while participating in the EcoCAR 2 competition.

The group, Synchronous Solutions, consists of Bob Michniak, Rachael Morin, Denis Pankov, Kyle Pinto and Eva Mathieu.

They wanted to explore the apparent gap that exists between consumer attitudes toward green products and their willingness to actually purchase such items. Specifically, consumers’ willingness to purchase green products is higher than the sales of those products indicate. Investigating this relationship for large purchases such as vehicles could provide insights on how to better market them to consumers.

Synchronous Solutions developed a survey that was distributed to consumers within the Region of Waterloo as well as available on the UWAFT website here. A total of 111 surveys were completed over February and March of 2012. The group noted some limitations of their findings, which included issues with the sample population being over representative of both females and students compared to the Canadian population.

The following graphs show some of the most interesting findings that the group obtained from their surveys. The first graph shows each respondent’s ranking of deterrents if they were considering an AFV purchase. Clearly, price is the most prevalent deterrent.

Figure 1 - If you were considering an AFV, what deterrents would be likely to stop you? (%)

The second graph compares how often consumers question the validity of environmental claims to the likeliness that they would trust the environmental claims of a vehicle if 3rd party certification was required. The graph indicates that those who question claims ‘All the time’ or ‘No, not if there’s a 3rd party certification’ would be the most likely to trust 3rd party certification of a vehicle’s environmental claims.

Figure 2 - How often do you question the validity of environmental claims on products compared to likeliness of trust in the environmental claims of a vehicle if 3rd party certification was required (%)

Synchronous Solutions’ Recommendations:

• Explore 3rd party certification for all vehicles and which metrics would be most useful
• Analyze the price premium on AFVs to determine how or if they can be adjusted to not deter purchases while maintaining profitability
• Better communication of AFV technology costs and benefits is needed for consumers
• Improved sampling technique for any further research on the topic

A full copy of their report is available here.

The University of Waterloo Alternative Fuels Team (UWAFT) had a booth set up and engaged in interactive presentations to groups of students and their parents about UWAFT, EcoCAR 2, and advanced vehicle technologies. “The students asked many questions about UWAFT, EcoCAR 2 and even alternative fuels, so we knew they were well engaged during these discussions” said Rachael Morin, Director of Youth Outreach. This exemplified their interest in UWAFT’s project goals such as reducing fuel consumption, tailpipe emissions and well-to-wheel greenhouse gas emissions. According to Mark Goody, Director of Outreach “many students were actually very knowledgeable about the problems that exist from society’s dependence on fossil fuels, the environmental risks associated with their extraction, and the environmental damage caused by their emissions.”

UWAFT was very happy to give young students and their parents an opportunity to learn more about advanced vehicle technologies and the EcoCAR 2 program. Getting students interested in engineering and science is important as it ensures that there will be a next generation of passionate students, dedicated towards solving real-world problems that society is currently facing.

Electrical Team Lead, Eric Evenchick, speaking to students and their parents at Engineering Explorations

Team Captain Gurhari Singh and Outreach Coordinator Mark Goody represented UWAFT during the two day event. Unlike past events, which have been focused on campus and community outreach, the forum on Commercializing Cleantech was an industry-based conference. It provided UWAFT with significant learning and networking opportunities. It was also an ideal environment to speak with potential sponsors for UWAFT!

In addition to acquiring valuable business knowledge and industry contacts, Singh and Goody had the opportunity to promote the team and the EcoCAR 2 competition. Alternative fuel technology was a large part of the conference and it is clear that Canada’s industry and government are committed to building a more sustainable transportation future!

Outreach Coordinator Mark Goody