TBWA\Sydney Asks EV Owners to Discharge Vehicles, Power Communities in Crisis

TBWA Sydney and PR agency Eleven are calling on electric vehicle owners to join a taskforce willing to discharge their cars and provide power to communities in the aftermath of natural disasters.

Speaking exclusively to LBB, TBWA Sydney chief creative officer Evan Roberts said while everyone knows EVs can be charged, not many know they can also be de-charged. The agency discovered this when Australia’s largest tyre and servicing provider, mycar, challenged it to connect with an EV audience through its ‘People First’ platform.

“We discovered that EVs can de-charge power through the creative process of answering that brief,” Evan said. 

“While manufacturers have never hidden the feature, it’s not well known and we saw a much bigger opportunity for it to benefit communities.”

The ‘mycar Chargers’ campaign will start with a recruitment drive, asking EV owners with vehicle-to-load (V2L) capabilities to sign up to the community-focused initiative via earned, owned, and paid media channels.

Over the summer, the official Chargers trials will take place across New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, and the ACT. EV drivers participating in the trial will be deployed to emergency areas once it’s safe to enter, giving their car’s battery power to people who need power by plugging items like phone chargers, coffee machines, or laptops into the vehicle.

Creative director Archana Murugaser said speaking with people who had experienced a natural disaster first-hand illuminated just how important access to power is in the aftermath of a crisis.

“They spoke to us about how simply using their baby monitor, making their morning coffee, or charging their phone to call family and friends would have made a world of difference to them at the time.”

Clinical psychologist and behavioural expert Jaimie Bloch added, "Many Australians would feel isolated, disconnected and overwhelmed without access to power. Power is what connects us to the community and the vital resources that help us feel safe and connected, bringing a sense of normalcy."  

84% of Australians report being directly affected by at least one natural disaster since 2019, according to the Climate Council - whether heatwaves (71%), floods (45%), bushfires (43%), droughts (37%), destructive storms (35%), or landslides (8%). KPMG reports a third of Australians lived in an area impacted by bushfires during the 2019-2020 bushfire season.

“Unfortunately we live in a country where natural disasters are all too common and happening more and more often, leading to our disaster relief organisations often becoming overwhelmed,” Evan observed.  

 

“Setting up a community-built model like this, which helps with all the little things, means disaster relief can focus their efforts on the big things.”

He added that because “EV drivers are a tight community and generally with altruistic values”, he has hope they will mobilise for a good cause.

mycar chief customer officer Adele Coswello echoed this, adding, “As a company that truly lives our People First promise, we wanted to raise awareness of the benefits of discharging an EV. Unsurprisingly our research shows EV drivers are very open to supporting their community in times of need.” 

Creative director Simon Hayes noted the initiative is a “first of its kind” and the “ambition is that they [the Chargers] become a useful asset for emergency services as another crucial part of  recovery efforts.” Evan agreed that’s the ultimate goal.

“While it’s a mycar led initiative, it’s the commitment and support of Australians that will make it work. In terms of what’s next, we hope we can prove this model works and gain support of not just citizens but disaster relief organisations.”