PR for the electric car – when the electric car suddenly has a pedigree

How car brands try to sell the feeling of carburettor, father's workshop and oily Sunday afternoon with 800-volt systems and touchscreens.

This is the communications world of 2025, where even the most electric flatfish suddenly becomes traditional.

The PR departments The car manufacturers have a new favorite phrase: “Based on the iconic DNA of our brand.”

This usually refers to a vehicle that looks like a mixture of a Bluetooth speaker, an ICE train interior, and a dishwasher – but is intended to be emotionally charged so that someone will spend money on it.

Electricity flows away feelings

When a new electric SUV is presented, it translates as: “A tribute to our legendary successful model from 1963.” Only without the engine noise, without any connection to that time, and without success.

What used to be a hum is now "Design by DJ Vielfalt." Instead of the smell of gasoline, there's an ionization scent from the interior and a pre-engineered sound from the retort.

It doesn't get any more embarrassing than this. And the driving pleasure? That's primarily confined to the configurator. Until you experience the oven in person.

Heritage by hashtag

The PR strategies of modern car manufacturers are completely predictable – and at the same time maximally constructed: A well-designed retro model with OLED lights and the exact same name from back then becomes a “modern classic”.

A “revitalized brand promise” should then also evoke the spirit of old rally times, when Men become legends Although the car is now equipped with electricity contracts, vegan artificial leather and ISA speed warning shines.

And the slogan? Something between "Back to the Future" and "Drive with feeling, emission-free." Even if the latter isn't true at all. "Tradition meets innovation," says the PR text.

Sounds like James Dean had a Meeting with ChatGPT Hashtags like #PRDriven, #ElectroEmotions, or #TraditionAbWerk are intended to pull the coals out of the fire—er, the rolling batteries out of the showrooms.

Sonny Crockett stunned

Imagine: Sonny Crockett ("Miami Vice") encounters a lithium-ion battery in a Ferrari. One has seen real dirt, the other just charges more often so it can at least get a few kilometers.

The relationship between E-Cars-PR and real automotive history.

Sonny Crockett would have the filterless Lucky Strike fly out of his hand from the sheer electric shock.

Conclusion

Car PR has changed. Instead of image and horsepower, what matters today is, let's put it kindly, purpose. Instead of real reality with complicated applications, it's often the fantasized values ​​of the brand.

And where the heart once beat for displacement, today the story of a clean, connected, tradition-conscious future pulsates.

Is that honest? No. Does it work? Not really. It's just an electric car. Without a pedigree and too often with bad PR.

Sierks Media / © Photo: VitalikRadko, de.depositphotos.com