Members of Gen Z have shown less interest in an act 16-year-olds of previous generations clamored for: getting a driver’s license.
But the ensuing hand-wringing about what it means for the future may be a little overblown, according to a new survey commissioned by Enterprise Mobility, the portfolio of businesses that encompasses major rental brands like Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Alamo, and National Car Rental.
Enterprise’s latest “On the Move” survey homed in on generational attitudes toward driving in general, as well as on major technological trends like electrification and automation.
Will Withington, Enterprise Mobility’s executive VP of global operations, told Tech Brew that the company regularly conducts this type of polling and passes along the feedback to automakers. Rental-car companies—a major driver of car companies’ fleet sales—can be important sources of insight into consumer preferences for automakers.
Withington was especially intrigued by the findings on Gen Z’s driving habits. The survey found that 47% of Gen Z respondents—a higher percentage than any other age group—are driving more now than they did five years ago. (The survey noted a caveat that accounts for the fact that a segment of this cohort was not old enough to drive a half-decade ago: “This specific data point refers to a subset of Gen Z who were of driving age five years ago.”) Overall, one in three US drivers are getting behind the wheel more frequently now than they were five years ago, according to the results.
“From a business perspective, this encourages us to make sure that as we see these young drivers come up,” Withington said, “are we investing in the future so that we’re providing the mobility solutions that these younger generations want to see?”
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No surprises: Less surprising were the findings on EVs, which Withington said were in line with feedback Enterprise frequently gets from customers.
While four in 10 people said they’d consider an EV in the future, nearly seven in 10 “believe the US does not currently have the proper infrastructure in place to support widespread EV adoption.”
This lines up with many other recent studies highlighting US drivers’ unease with the EV charging experience. Study after study has shown that concerns related to charging are sticking points for consumers.
There’s also research backing up those concerns; reliability remains a significant issue that charging providers are trying to address.
Slowing demand, driven by some of these hangups, recently has prompted some automakers to scale back their EV plans. The rental-car business hasn’t been immune to these growing pains; Hertz, for example, earlier this year said it would offload 20,000 EVs from its US fleet.
“Everyone’s interested in it, to save fuel and help the economy, but the lack of infrastructure has been a major hurdle,” Withington said. “As we’ve been renting these vehicles and partnering with our OEMs for several years, we’ve seen our customers come back and say, ‘Hey, we like the technology and we’re interested in it, but the infrastructure’s not here.’”
This type of feedback helps Enterprise’s make decisions about EV inventory levels in different locations, he said, and will inform the company’s efforts to help improve the charging experience.
“We play a role for our OEM partners to help test these vehicles, get them out to the market, and provide them feedback,” Withington said. “We play a role in the test drive for customers, for them to try these.”