One of the interesting people that we met last year at the “Everything Electric Convention” was Imogen Bhogal, who was one of the hosts and presenters at the convention. She is also the cohost and Chief Content Officer for Everything Electric YouTube channel with 1.2 million subscribers as well as the co-host for the sustainability lifestyle podcast Green Queens.

Imogen has a background in engineering having studied at Oxford University, and she began her career as an aerodynamics engineer at Jaguar Land Rover where she later led technology and innovation communications with a focus on autonomous vehicles.

OCT: Imogen, how did you go from that area of study to becoming one of the most worldwide known hosts of the very popular YouTube channel Everything Electric?

IB: That is probably the single most frequently asked questions that I get. I’ve always been fascinated by engineering and specifically the automotive industry. I don’t think there are many industries where you can do something that impacts thousands of people’s jobs, skills, geopolitics, supply chains, and more. At the end of all this is a consumer product that is created and people feel very emotional about it. For instance, you can feature an electric vehicle in a film, and you can tell so much about the character in a movie depending on what car they drive. The fact that they can bridge those two things is astonishing. Obviously, I have a very technical background and that’s what led me to be an automotive engineer. I think what I swiftly discovered is that I am much more interested and have much more fun talking about all this stuff then perhaps optimizing a rear bumper by 1 mm or so. I’ll leave that to the experts. I have found myself being very busy talking about and showcasing the latest and greatest things that are happening across the world for sustainability in cars and clean energy.

OCT: We talked to your Everything Electric co-host Jack Scarlett last summer and we made reference to the fact that both of you have the qualifications and the deep background on this topic, but you also managed to make it a lot of fun. I believe this is what appeals to so many different people rather than just getting too technical about the subject. 

IB: Thank you for saying this because I think you know while there are complete car fanatics out there and these people can have an encyclopedic knowledge on specific model variance, but I equally think that everyone is impacted by cars. Even if you are one of those people that think you don’t really like cars, you probably still are going to use one or get in one at some point in your life. I think it’s important that we make this topic as accessible and inclusive as possible.

OCT: Let’s talk a little bit more about your background in the advocacy category. You emphasize human centric design and clean technology, which is aiming to make complex topics accessible and debunk the information surrounding electric vehicles. What is the number one question that you get when you are at conventions or when you are contacted through email regarding electric vehicles?

IB: Well that depends, if the question is coming from someone who’s never gotten into an electric car in their life, they normally state something like they’re too expensive or they don’t have very good range. I think there’s misinformation out there, so I always suggest to those people that they simply get in one for a test drive and then we can have another discussion. For people who are in the industry, there are a lot of questions around who is really going to lead this transition and what the future is like for some of these legacy automotive brands. How are these brands going to influence the global market? Those are probably the two types of conversation that end up happening for me.

OCT: Our government has stated that there will be no electric cars coming into our country from China. I was fascinated by what you mentioned about one car company, particularly BYD (Build Your Dreams), based out of China and the very interesting things they are doing. I heard it said on one of the shows that if these cars got here, the rest of the manufacturers are truly finished. Would you say this is accurate? 

IB: They are astonishing and they are an astounding organization. The huge work that they’ve been doing has been happening in plain sight and I believe they have been around since 2008. Warren Buffett invested in them so let’s fast forward to today. They are producing millions of cars in every area from the very basic models up to the luxury brands. They have incredible cars that can go through water and climb up boulders but then they have everything that fits in between that. They are trying to serve as many customers as possible with a huge range and they have fantastic technologies, and the products look good. I would say if they entered those markets where the EV’s are a little more expensive and there’s less choice, then of course they’re going to capture a huge part of that market. But I think at the same time when someone chooses their car, they’re not just choosing it based on the technology or the price. 

There are all these other emotional factors that come into play as well. And that’s where some of the older legacy brands must recognize in this new landscape that they need to remain competitive. They need to think about how they can use their history to their advantage, without necessarily resting on their laurels, purely because they have the legacy and history. If we just look at the stats, then I would have to say there would be a lot to be worried about but equally this is still a very emotional market that there’s more to discover at this point.