In spite of the purported positive environmental consequences of electrifying the light duty vehicle fleet, the number of electric vehicles (EVs) in use is still insignificant. One reason for the modest adoption figures is that the mass acceptance of EVs to a large extent is reliant on consumers’ perception of EVs. This paper presents a comprehensive overview of the drivers for and barriers against consumer adoption of plug-in EVs, as well as an overview of the theoretical perspectives that have been utilized for understanding consumer intentions and adoption behavior towards EVs. In addition, we identify gaps and limitations in existing research and suggest areas in which future research would be able to contribute.

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Advances in consumer electric vehicle adoption research: A review and research agenda

A series of weaknesses in creativity, research design, and quality of writing continue to handicap energy social science. Many studies ask uninteresting research questions, make only marginal contributions, and lack innovative methods or application to theory. Many studies also have no explicit research design, lack rigor, or suffer from mangled structure and poor quality of writing. To help remedy these shortcomings, this Review offers suggestions for how to construct research questions; thoughtfully engage with concepts; state objectives; and appropriately select research methods. Then, the Review offers suggestions for enhancing theoretical, methodological, and empirical novelty. In terms of rigor, codes of practice are presented across seven method categories: experiments, literature reviews, data collection, data analysis, quantitative energy modeling, qualitative analysis, and case studies. We also recommend that researchers beware of hierarchies of evidence utilized in some disciplines, and that researchers place more emphasis on balance and appropriateness in research design. In terms of style, we offer tips regarding macro and microstructure and analysis, as well as coherent writing. Our hope is that this Review will inspire more interesting, robust, multi-method, comparative, interdisciplinary and impactful research that will accelerate the contribution that energy social science can make to both theory and practice.

Promoting novelty, rigor, and style in energy social science: towards codes of practice for appropriate methods and research design

The amount of food discarded by UK households is substantial and, to a large extent, avoidable. Furthermore, such food waste has serious environmental consequences. If household food waste reduction initiatives are to be successful they will need to be informed by people's motivations and barriers to minimising household food waste. This paper reports a qualitative study of the thoughts, feelings and experiences of 15 UK household food purchasers, based on semi-structured interviews. Two core categories of motives to minimise household food waste were identified: (1) waste concerns and (2) doing the ‘right’ thing. A third core category illustrated the importance of food management skills in empowering people to keep household food waste to a minimum. Four core categories of barriers to minimising food waste were also identified: (1) a ‘good’ provider identity; (2) minimising inconvenience; (3) lack of priority; and (4) exemption from responsibility. The wish to avoid experiencing negative emotions (such as guilt, frustration, annoyance, embarrassment or regret) underpinned both the motivations and the barriers to minimising food waste. Findings thus reveal potentially conflicting personal goals which may hinder existing food waste reduction attempts.

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Identifying motivations and barriers to minimising household food waste

This paper examines consumer stated intent to purchase plug-in electric vehicles and assesses the factors that increase or decrease interest. We surveyed adult drivers in large US cities in early fall 2011, before vehicle manufacturers and dealers began marketing campaigns. The survey responses thus document early impressions of this transport technology. We find that, given current battery technology and public perceptions, overall stated intent to purchase or lease electric vehicles is low. Interest in plug-in hybrid technology is somewhat greater than interest in all-electric technology. Consumers who express early interest in adopting electric vehicles are typically highly educated, previous owners of conventional hybrids, environmentally sensitive, and concerned about dependence on foreign oil. Enhanced fuel economy, the primary tangible advantage of plug-in technology, is recognized as favorable by respondents but fails to exert a strong influence on purchasing intentions. Interest in plug-in electric vehicles is shaped primarily by consumers’ perceptions of electric vehicle disadvantages.

Intent to purchase a plug-in electric vehicle: A survey of early impressions in large US cites

The aim is to understand how private car drivers’ perception of vehicle attributes may affect their intention to adopt electric vehicles (EVs). Data are obtained from a national online survey of potential EV adopters in the UK. The results indicate that instrumental attributes are important largely because they are associated with other attributes derived from owning and using EVs, including pleasure of driving (hedonic attributes) and identity derived from owning and using EVs (symbolic attributes). People who believe that a proenvironmental self-identity fits with their self-image are more likely to have positive perceptions of EV attributes. Perceptions of EV attributes are only very weakly associated with car-authority identity.

The Role of Instrumental, Hedonic and Ssymbolic Attributes in the Intention to Adopt Electric Vehicles

Plug-in electric vehicles can potentially emit substantially lower CO2 emissions than internal combustion engine vehicles, and so have the potential to reduce transport emissions without curtailing personal car use. Assessing the potential uptake of these new categories of vehicles requires an understanding of likely consumer responses. Previous in-depth explorations of appraisals and evaluations of electric vehicles have tended to focus on ‘early adopters’, who may not represent mainstream consumers. This paper reports a qualitative analysis of responses to electric cars, based on semi-structured interviews conducted with 40 UK non-commercial drivers (20 males, 20 females; age 24–70 years) at the end of a seven-day period of using a battery electric car (20 participants) or a plug-in hybrid car (20 participants). Six core categories of response were identified: (1) cost minimisation; (2) vehicle confidence; (3) vehicle adaptation demands; (4) environmental beliefs; (5) impression management; and, underpinning all other categories, (6) the perception of electric cars generally as ‘work in progress’ products. Results highlight potential barriers to the uptake of current-generation (2010) plug-in electric cars by mainstream consumers. These include the prioritization of personal mobility needs over environmental benefits, concerns over the social desirability of electric vehicle use, and the expectation that rapid technological and infrastructural developments will make current models obsolete. Implications for the potential uptake of future electric vehicles are discussed.

Mainstream consumers driving plug-in battery-electric and plug-in hybrid electric cars: A qualitative analysis of responses and evaluations

The British Government has set legally binding targets to cut overall greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80% from 1990 levels by 2050. Ultra low emission vehicles (ULEVs) are expected to have an important role to play in meeting CO₂ reduction targets as they have low - zero CO₂ emissions at tailpipe. The British Government has implemented a range of incentives to encourage the growth in uptake of ULEVs, two of which are the Plugged-in Places (PiP) scheme and the Plug-in Car Grant (PiCG). The aim of this research was to investigate the role of both of these schemes in facilitating electric vehicle (EV) take-up amongst ‘early adopters’. This included how important the PiCG and PiP scheme were to EV purchasers when deciding whether to purchase; the role of other factors that influenced the purchasing process; the barriers to purchasing an EV; and EV-owners’ experiences of using and charging their vehicles.

Assessing the Role of the Plug-in Car Grant and Plugged-in Places Scheme in Electric Vehicle Take-up in England

This paper describes the results of a study comparing motorcycle manoeuvres on-road (in live traffic) and off-road (in designated test centres). Workload was measured using NASA-RTLX with rider performance used as a secondary measure, and the results are discussed in terms of the different dimensions that were affected by the change in setting. The study found that both faults and workload increased in the on-road condition, with the frustration, performance and time pressure components of workload showing the largest increases. The results may have implications for conducting testing in protected environments, which might not fully reflect the workload associated with on-road manoeuvring.

Rebecca Hutchins

Papers

Mainstream consumers driving plug-in battery-electric and plug-in hybrid electric cars: A qualitative analysis of responses and evaluations

Assessing the Role of the Plug-in Car Grant and Plugged-in Places Scheme in Electric Vehicle Take-up in England

Workload Differences Between On-road and Off-road Manoeuvres for Motorcyclists