In the past three years we have seen the proliferation of a variety of energy technologies among U.S. consumers, and yet other technologies with disruptive potential seem to have lagged further behind. Zpryme has tracked U.S. consumer perspectives monthly since February 2013 via an online survey directed towards four energy-related issues:

  • Smart grid familiarity
  • Likelihood of buying/leasing an electric vehicle (EV)
  • Likelihood of buying/installing a home energy management system (HEMS)
  • Use of a mobile device to monitor electricity consumption

U.S. Consumer Energy Trends by Technology, 2013 – 2016

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Monthly highlights from U.S. consumer trends by technology report:

  • The EV segmentation data during the month of June indicates that males are 1.5 times more likely to purchase an electric vehicle than females.
  • Home energy management systems are on the rise. Following a two-month increase, the likelihood that consumers will purchase home energy management systems (e.g., Nest) increased again by 1% percent from May to June.

This month the percent of respondents who said they are familiar with smart grid (31%) saw its largest increase (5%) in the past three years, bringing it back to the same level as February 2013.

  • From May to June over 30% fewer respondents with an income of more than $150k reported that they use mobile devices to monitor their energy usage.

About the Data

Zpryme tracks monthly consumer surveys of smart grid sentiment, electric vehicle demand, home energy management system (HEMS) demand, and mobile energy monitoring. Data are based upon nationally representative surveys of 1,000 U.S. adults (margin of error: +/- 3.5%). The smart grid and the electric vehicle surveys started in February 2013. The HEMS and mobile energy monitoring monthly surveys started in March 2013.