According to Cars.com, this year's Super Bowl featured twice as many automotive commercials as last year. In fact, there were a total of seven brands highlighted with eight commercials, and most of them showcased an electric car.
During the Super Bowl, Cars.com saw a 217% increase in viewership to its automotive brand pages in general. However, what's much more compelling is the fact that it saw a 2,361% increase in visits to pages for the specific makes and models features during the big game, most of which were EVs. Clearly, people watching the Super Bowl saw the EV ads and wanted to search for more information.
Polestar, a new and relatively unknown brand among the masses, saw the biggest spike on Cars.com. The publication admits that its Polestar page didn't get much action prior to the big game, but experienced an increase of over "580x" during the Super Bowl. That said, the overall winners were as follows:
- 921% — Kia brought the cuteness factor with a lost electric pup chasing its owner in Kia’s EV6.
- 782% — BMW “Zeus and Hera” electric-themed commercial promoted the BMW iX.
- 341% — Toyota Tundra features multiple celebrities in a Joneses’ Tundra race.
- 120% — Nissan’s star-studded action commercial shined the spotlight on the Nissan Ariya and Nissan Z.
- 58% — GM’s Chevy recreated the classic “Sopranos” series featuring the onscreen daughter and son of the famed central character to promote the all-electric Chevy Silverado. The gas-power version of the truck also saw a 115% boost from the throw-back commercial.
- 14% — GM’s corporate brand leaned on the nostalgia of Austin Powers’ Dr. Evil character, putting the GMC Hummer EV, electric Chevy Silverado and Cadillac Lyriq from the company’s EV lineup centerstage. The 90s ensemble cast scored a 187% jump for all GM EVs combined.
Cars.com goes on to say that EV commercials were the true MVP in the Super Bowl this year, with a whopping 75% of automaker commercials focused on the new technology. This is a really big deal since Cars.com points out that at any given time, some "5% of households in a local market are looking to buy a car."
The publication also makes it clear that car shoppers are certainly paying much more attention to EVs, which may be due in part to legacy automakers finally making notable strides. The fact that they're starting to feature electric SUVs and electric pickup trucks is working to increase interest in electric vehicles. However, EV sales still aren't growing as quickly as interest in the segment is rising.
While Cars.com didn't mention it, this is partly thanks to the chip shortage. Many automakers are selling every EV they can build, though they're not building or selling very many since they simply can't. On the flip side, some EVs are just not available in large numbers in a wide variety of areas across the country. And, finally, many of the electric cars that are attracting the most interest haven't yet come to market.
