Volvo Cars
XC40 Recharge Launch
A startling insight
In 2021, Volvo discovered that Plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHEV) drivers, who purchased these vehicles to minimize their carbon footprint and help the environment, don’t charge their cars regularly, and fail to take advantage of the full benefits of the electric engine. Our challenge was helping them to change this behavior.
In order to make a behavioral change, we dived deep into the science of human behavior: What we learned is that it takes 21 days to form a new habit and when people invest their time in an activity, they want to feel an accomplishment, and be rewarded.
Our solution was to gamify PHEV experience for Volvo drivers in a way that changes their behaviour. To execute this idea, we’ve create an extension of the Volvo cars app that provides drivers with unique driving and charging challenges, progress updates, rewards, and the ability to support charitable organizations through their actions.
The more often a PHEV owner charges their Volvo vehicle, the more Volvo Electric Miles they are able to earn.
As the driver accrues more Volvo Electric Miles, they’re able to redeem for swag or donate to charity, changing rewards from feel-goods to doing good.
The new Volvo Cars app launched September 26, 2022.
We saw 2,000 registrations within the first eight days.
And by the end of the year, a total of approximately 5,438 new registrations—about 12.5% of Volvo PHEV owners.