Social media activity related to certain electric vehicles on the market was recently gathered by researchers. I wasn’t surprised to see a high-end performance/luxury car get the highest number of social media mentions. That would be the Tesla Model S, at 49,967 mentions in the study period. The BMW i3 received the second-most positive sentiment (38%). Unlike the Tesla Model S, the BMW i3 is intended for the masses, technically making it a bit more important. Plus, BMW is a popular brand.
The high number of mentions for the Tesla Model S can be partly attributed to the fact that it was the 2013 Motor Trend Car Of The Year, and Motor Trend is very well known. There were also multiple range controversies surrounding the Tesla Model S. Furthermore, the @huffingtonpost Twitter account had the greatest Twitter influence on its social network popularity.
Unfortunately, for the Honda Fit EV, there were only 54 social media mentions.
Cars In Order Of Mention Count
- 49, 967: Tesla Model S. (The largest influencer is @huffingtonpost).
- 6,261: Nissan Leaf. (The largest influencer is @Ashton5S0S).
- 1,448: BMW i3. (The largest influencer is @erechiste).
- Tesla Roadster: 297. (The largest influencer is @seth_leitman).
- 87: Toyota RAV4 EV. (The largest influencer is @realautoblog).
- 54: Honda Fit EV. (The largest influencer is @carconnection).
Cars In Order Of Positive Sentiment
- 39%: Tesla Model S.
- 38%: BMW i3.
- Nissan Leaf: 35%.
- 24%: Toyota RAV4 EV.
- 22%: Honda Fit EV.
Vehicle charging stations received more mentions on social media than half of the electric cars mentioned, at 1,077.
The social media mentions were on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and blogs.
This is great information to look at, as an individual greatly interested in social media and green automotive vehicles/ initiatives. It is without disbelief that Tesla was highly mentioned by many people on social media, as it is an electric vehicle, but more importantly, it is more of a luxury/ sport vehicle that can be more appealing to the consumer. Most do not just want to get the “Typical” electric vehicle. These are great numbers for companies to look at to see how they can communicate about their EV’s on social media. It is great to see that conversations on EV’s are at least occurring. Great article!