Welcome to the September edition of TekNiche - this month our guest editor is Simon Krelle, MD of Publitek UK. He gives his take on a technology that is shaping the future of our world and the role of marketing in helping to drive its progress and adoption.

“This month’s niche
is EV technology...”

The momentum of the EV market really seems to have shifted up a couple of gears in recent years and adoption rates are accelerating – no more motoring puns! 

A report from the International Energy Agency shows global electric car sales exceeded 10 million in 2022, that’s 14% of all new cars sold – up from 9% in 2021 and below 5% in 2022. The trend is continuing in 2023 with sales in Q1 up a massive 25% on the same period a year earlier.

There are many contributing factors including:

• More choice, with almost all manufacturers now offering electric powertrain versions of their vehicle ranges
• Better technology resulting in improved range
• Legislation combined with several manufacturers' commitments to halt petrol and diesel engine production well ahead of government mandates to stop the sale of fossil-fuelled cars

Another catalyst for overcoming consumer hesitation to ‘go EV’ is the scale, effectiveness, and practicality of the charging infrastructure. The rollout of public charging points was a balancing act between staying ahead of demand but not too far due to cost and rapidly advancing technology. Now, we see charging infrastructure is generally playing catch up.

EV charging is classified as one of three levels – levels 1 and 2 cover home charging options with the latter offering up to around 7kW to allow empty-to-full charging overnight – an important threshold. Home chargers rely on the car’s onboard charging circuitry to convert domestic AC mains to DC for the battery. 

Moving forwards, the expanding network of Level 3 chargers is the real key. These fast and powerful stations currently deliver between 50kW and 400kW of DC power direct to the battery allowing 0 to 80% of full charge to be achieved in around 30 minutes…or a normal coffee stop on a long journey.

Many of Publitek’s clients offer exciting and enabling technologies for EV charging, including Silicon carbide (SiC) semiconductors and many other robust, high power active and passive components. We’re using our technology and communications expertise to build awareness and demand, enabling our clients to connect and engage with designers and decision makers for cleaner, more sustainable travel.

For more views on EV technology from inside Publitek, look out for upcoming commentary and opinion in the coming months.

In case you missed it...

Top of the list has to be the launch of our new data platform Seer, which we're all very excited about. Built to measure integrated marketing outputs across PR, social media, advertising and web, Seer helps marketing and communications professionals use data to optimise and enhance their KPIs, budgets and strategies. Find out more and request a demo at www.publitek.com/seer.

With Twitter / X versus Threads being a hot topic of discussion, Sarah MacKenzie (VP Client Services & Strategy) has been exploring whether B2B organisations should stick with tried and trusted platforms or switch their focus to new challengers

Meanwhile, Karen Sharpe (Senior Account Manager) has challenged the idea that paid social media campaigns are just for B2C marketing, she provides insight on how B2B tech brands can reap the benefits too.

And whilst on the topic of B2C vs B2B tactics, branding is often dismissed as too superficial for some deep tech businesses but Kathryn Lummis (Account Director) challenges that B2B organisations need to tell compelling stories that build brand affinity so you’re front of mind when that next opportunity comes along.

Finally, wish us luck as we're nominated as "Most Outstanding PR Agency" at the Electronics Industry Awards 2023.