Barriers to widespread adoption of electric vehicles: An analysis of consumer attitudes and perceptions
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors identify potential socio-technical barriers to consumer adoption of EVs and determine if sustainability issues influence consumer decision to purchase an EV, and provide valuable insights into preferences and perceptions of technology enthusiasts; individuals highly connected to technology development and better equipped to sort out the many differences between EVs and CVs.
About: This article is published in Energy Policy.The article was published on 2012-09-01. It has received 1207 citations till now.
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the results of a survey of 1,000 Canadian internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle owners to assess factors that would encourage them to purchase an electric vehicle (EV).
Abstract: This study examines the results of a survey of 1,000 Canadian internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle owners to assess factors that would encourage them to purchase an electric vehicle (EV). Further to the work of Peters and Dutschke (2014) and (Matthews et al. (2017) we combine the various drivers of EV adoption, independently identified in the literature, into one model in order to investigate their influence on the intent to purchase an EV. Through correlations and a series of probit regression modelling, we provide evidence to support additional policies that could establish greater relative advantages for owning an EV. These include the promotion of the communication of those advantages through experiential awareness initiatives such as improved access to EV test drives and consumer information. We suggest that car dealerships are important partners in this journey and their association is critical for greater diffusion of EVs in the market. Our findings have implications for EV manufacturers and government policy makers.
5 citations
Cites background from "Barriers to widespread adoption of ..."
...For example, some research (Egbue and Long, 2012) found no statistical significance related to gender, age, income or level of education and the likelihood to purchase an alternative fuel vehicle while others (Berliner et al, 2019) found evidence to suggest that the likelihood of purchasing an EV increases when respondents are male, younger, have higher income, and are more educated....
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...For example, some research (Egbue and Long, 2012) found no statistical significance related to gender, age, income or level of education and the likelihood to purchase an alternative fuel vehicle while others (Berliner et al, 2019) found evidence to suggest that the likelihood of purchasing an EV…...
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Journal Article•
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the barriers to the adoption of green vehicles in China from a consumer perspective, focusing on battery-only vehicles (BEVs), and found that the level of interest, perception, and demands are significantly influenced by gender, age, income, education, and car ownership status.
Abstract: Efforts to commercialize green vehicles by the Chinese government have been met with surprisingly subdued consumer responses and with sales targets that fall far short to targets. This paper examines the barriers to the adoption of green vehicles in China from a consumer perspective, focusing on battery-only vehicles (BEVs). A web-based survey was conducted to solicit views from Chinese residents in November 2012. The results indicated that although the majority of respondents expressed interests in BEVs and agreed that BEVs were good for the environment and were cheaper to run, many respondents expressed concerns over them being inconvenient to charge, long charging times, limited battery longevity, limited vehicle range and high price. The greatest barrier was inconvenience to charge. The results also show that the level of interest, perception, and demands are significantly influenced by gender, age, income, education, and car ownership status.
5 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors evaluated the possibility of using electric vehicles (EVs) to provide the system with additional storage capacity to support a more balanced hydropower operation and evaluated the accumulation potential of the current passenger car parc in a hypothetical scenario in which the complete fleet is electrified and suited for vehicle-to-grid (V2G) interaction.
Abstract: Hydropower short-term response capability and operating flexibility are critical in some electricity systems, especially during peak demand periods. However, operational variability at hydro plants may originate relevant water flow fluctuations (i.e., hydropeaking) that cause severe alterations in stream ecosystem functionality. Such harmful consequences could be reduced if other energy storage were available. The increasing use of electric vehicles (EVs) has presented the application of their batteries for energy grid scale accumulation purposes. EV interaction with the grid and other renewable energy (RE) sources (primarily wind and solar) has been broadly studied. It seems, however, that EV energy storage allocation to mitigate hydropeaking impacts at regional or national scale remains unexplored. This article evaluates the possibility of using EV batteries to provide the system with additional storage capacity to support a more balanced hydropower operation. The analysis is performed for eight countries with diverse socioeconomic and technological environments. Initially, the coherency in the orders of magnitude between hydropower generation and energy storage capacity is evaluated by calculating the accumulation potential of the current passenger car parc in a hypothetical scenario in which the complete fleet is electrified and suited for vehicle-to-grid (V2G) interaction. After validating the feasibility of the proposal, a long-term analysis is performed using diverse energy, EV rates, and battery capacity forecasts gathered from reliable sources. The results indicate that a 50% PEV fleet using 300 Wh/kg batteries may provide stable storage capacity for average daily hydropower 2050 projections in China, Germany, Japan, Spain and the United States.
5 citations
Cites background from "Barriers to widespread adoption of ..."
...EV deployment and battery capacity projections The main technological limitation for PEV commercialization is energy storage capacity (Chalk and Miller, 2006; Egbue and Long, 2012)....
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...Electromobility is expected to transform the automotive industry and modify user behavior (Pollet et al., 2012; Egbue and Long, 2012)....
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on examining the feasibility of dynamic charging for electric vehicle adoption by converting road segments into powered lanes (e.g., electric roadways or ERs).
5 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, an investigation into attitudes towards and willingness to fly in pilotless aircraft (PAs) among a sample of 711 UK people known to fly at least occasionally is presented.
Abstract: This paper presents the results of an investigation into attitudes towards and willingness to fly in pilotless aircraft (PAs) among a sample of 711 UK people known to fly at least occasionally. A problem with past studies in the area is that attitudes have only been measured explicitly, using questionnaire items drawn from literature in the field. Also, distinctions between attitude strength and attitude structure have not been considered. The present investigation employed an implicit measure of attitudes and examined attitudes via (i) a structural topic modelling procedure (in order to measure the structure of attitudes within the sample) and (ii) an Implicit Association Test (to evaluate attitude strength). Outcomes to the Implicit Association Test contributed significantly and substantially to the explanation of the sample members' degrees of willingness to fly in PAs. These are important matters considering the need for airlines, government agencies and aircraft manufacturers to induce public acceptance of PAs. Determinants of attitudes were posited to include self-image congruence, fear of flying, general anxiety syndrome, interest in new technologies, age, gender, and exposure to information about pilotless aircraft. A model containing these variables was assembled and estimated, the results providing a good fit (R2 = 0.58) with data obtained from the sample. Three primary components of attitude emerged from the investigation: risk, excitement and innovation. Four variables exerted the greatest effects on attitude structure, namely self-congruence, interest in new technologies, prior knowledge of PAs, and the age of the participant. Fear of flying and generalised anxiety impacted on the risk element of attitude structure, but not on excitement, innovation or attitude strength. Neither the fear of flying variable nor generalised anxiety had significant influences on attitude strength, although they did have significantly negative effects on willingness to fly in a pilotless airplane. Thirty-one per cent of the sample members disagreed or strongly disagreed with a question (five-point scale) asking whether a person was willing to fly in a pilotless aircraft. The results of the study have important implications for public information campaigns initiated by state agencies and for the marketing activities and promotional messages of airlines that will need to seek public acceptance of pilotless aircraft.
5 citations
References
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TL;DR: Ajzen, 1985, 1987, this article reviewed the theory of planned behavior and some unresolved issues and concluded that the theory is well supported by empirical evidence and that intention to perform behaviors of different kinds can be predicted with high accuracy from attitudes toward the behavior, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control; and these intentions, together with perceptions of behavioral control, account for considerable variance in actual behavior.
65,095 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors report results of two questionnaire studies aimed at examining various motives for car use, and investigate individual differences in the relative importance of the three categories of motives were investigated.
Abstract: This paper reports results of two questionnaire studies aimed at examining various motives for car use. In the first study, a random selection of 185 respondents who possess a driving licence were interviewed. Respondents were recruited from the cities of Groningen and Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The sample of the second study comprised a random selection of 113 commuters who regularly travelled during rush hours in and around Rotterdam, a region in the west of the Netherlands. First, it was examined which categories of car use motives may be distinguished. As proposed by Dittmar’s (1992) [The social psychology of material possessions: to have is to be. Havester Wheatsheaf, Hemel Hempstead, UK; St. Martin’s Press, New York] model on the meaning of material possessions, results from both studies revealed that car use not only fulfils instrumental functions, but also important symbolic and affective functions. Second, it was studied to what extent these different motives are related to the level of car use. From the results of study 2, it appeared that commuter car use was most strongly related to symbolic and affective motives, and not to instrumental motives. Third, individual differences in the relative importance of the three categories of motives were investigated. In both studies, most group differences were found in the evaluation of the symbolic and affective motives (and not the instrumental ones). Especially frequent drivers, respondents with a positive car attitude, male and younger respondents valued these non-instrumental motives for car use. These results suggest that policy makers should not exclusively focus on instrumental motives for car use, but they should consider the many social and affective motives as well.
1,064 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the relative efficacy of state sales tax waivers, income tax credits and non-tax incentives for hybrid-electric vehicle adoption in the United States has been studied and shown that the type of tax incentive offered is as important as the value of the tax incentive.
Abstract: Federal, state and local governments use a variety of incentives to induce consumer adoption of hybrid-electric vehicles. We study the relative efficacy of state sales tax waivers, income tax credits and non-tax incentives and find that the type of tax incentive offered is as important as the value of the tax incentive. Conditional on value, we find that sales tax waivers are associated a seven-fold greater increase in hybrid sales than income tax credits. In addition, we estimate the extent to which consumer adoption of hybrid-electric vehicles (HEV) in the United States from 2000-2006 can be attributed to government incentives, changing gasoline prices, or consumer preferences for environmental quality or energy security. After controlling for model specific state and time trends, we find that rising gasoline prices are associated with higher hybrid sales, although the effect operates entirely through sales of the hybrid models with the highest fuel economy. In total, we find that tax incentives, rising gasoline prices and social preferences are associated with 6, 27 and 36 percent of high economy hybrid sales from 2000-2006.
595 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore both the promise and the possible pitfalls of the plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) concept, focusing first on its definition and then on its technical state-of-the-art.
551 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a full year of high-resolution driving data from 484 instrumented gasoline vehicles in the US is used to analyze daily driving patterns, and from those infer the range requirements of electric vehicles (EVs).
Abstract: One full year of high-resolution driving data from 484 instrumented gasoline vehicles in the US is used to analyze daily driving patterns, and from those infer the range requirements of electric vehicles (EVs). We conservatively assume that EV drivers would not change their current gasoline-fueled driving patterns and that they would charge only once daily, typically at home overnight. Next, the market is segmented into those drivers for whom a limited-range vehicle would meet every day’s range need, and those who could meet their daily range need only if they make adaptations on some days. Adaptations, for example, could mean they have to either recharge during the day, borrow a liquid-fueled vehicle, or save some errands for the subsequent day. From this analysis, with the stated assumptions, we infer the potential market share for limited-range vehicles. For example, we find that 9% of the vehicles in the sample never exceeded 100 miles in one day, and 21% never exceeded 150 miles in one day. These drivers presumably could substitute a limited-range vehicle, like electric vehicles now on the market, for their current gasoline vehicle without any adaptation in their driving at all. For drivers who are willing to make adaptations on 2 days a year, the same 100 mile range EV would meet the needs of 17% of drivers, and if they are willing to adapt every other month (six times a year), it would work for 32% of drivers. Thus, it appears that even modest electric vehicles with today’s limited battery range, if marketed correctly to segments with appropriate driving behavior, comprise a large enough market for substantial vehicle sales. An additional analysis examines driving versus parking by time of day. On the average weekday at 5 pm, only 15% of the vehicles in the sample are on the road; at no time during the year are fewer than 75% of vehicles parked. Also, because the return trip home is widely spread in time, even if all cars plug in and begin charging immediately when they arrive home and park, the increased demand on the electric system is less problematic than prior analyses have suggested.
541 citations