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Journal ArticleDOI

Barriers to widespread adoption of electric vehicles: An analysis of consumer attitudes and perceptions

01 Sep 2012-Energy Policy (Elsevier)-Vol. 48, pp 717-729
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.
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a comprehensive review of studies on consumer preferences for electric vehicles, aiming to better inform policy-makers and give direction to further research, and discuss a research agenda to improve EV consumer preference studies and give recommendations for further research.

407 citations


Cites background from "Barriers to widespread adoption of ..."

  • ...Moreover, exploratory studies have already found that uncertainty is one of the main barriers for EV adoption (Egbue & Long, 2012)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors revisited and reviewed the recent energy management strategy (EMS) proposed and developed in the recent years and also discussed the Plug-in HEV from the EMS point of view.
Abstract: Faced with environmental issues caused by fossil fuel burning in the industrial and transportation sectors, innovations towards cleaner solutions to replace the ever diminishing fossil fuels have been the focus of not only researchers but governments all around the world. The hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) technology is the result of the desire to have vehicles with a better fuel economy and lower tailpipe emissions to meet the requirements of environmental policies as well as to absorb the impact of rising fuel prices. The objectives are met by combining a conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) with one or more electric motors powered by a battery pack that can be charged using an on-board generator and the regenerative braking technology to power the transmission. The challenge is to develop an efficient energy management strategy (EMS) to satisfy the objectives while not having a reduced vehicle performance. In this paper, EMSs that are proposed and developed in the recent years are revisited and reviewed. Additionally, the Plug-in HEV is discussed in a new perspective from the EMS point of view. The through-the-road (TtR) HEV with in-wheel motors (IWM) is a fairly new concept in the HEV design that features less complicated configuration with reduced hardware requirements and lower cost. Recent research findings are evaluated throughout this paper leading to a hypothetical TtR HEV materialization. A thorough discussion is made encompassing the advantages and disadvantages of the concept, its performance compared to conventional HEVs and the way forward.

401 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe the role of incentives for promoting BEVs, and determine what incentives are critical for deciding to buy a BEV and what groups of buyers respond to different types of incentives.
Abstract: Norway has become a global forerunner in the field of electromobility and the BEV market share is far higher than in any other country. One likely reason for this is strong incentives for promoting purchase and ownership of BEVs. The purpose of this study is to describe the role of incentives for promoting BEVs, and to determine what incentives are critical for deciding to buy a BEV and what groups of buyers respond to different types of incentives. The questions are answered with data from a survey among nearly 3400 BEV owners in Norway. Exemptions from purchase tax and VAT are critical incentives for more than 80% of the respondents. This is very much in line with previous research, which suggests that up-front price reduction is the most powerful incentive in promoting EV adoption. To a substantial number of BEV owners, however, exemption from road tolling or bus lane access is the only decisive factor. Analyses show that there are clear delineations between incentive groups, both in terms of age, gender, and education. Income is a less prominent predictor, which probably results from the competitive price of BEVs in the Norwegian market. Perhaps most interesting is the assumed relation between incentives and character of transport systems the respondents engage in.

387 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyzed and discussed several empirical data sets from Germany, characterising this user group from both a user and a product perspective, i.e. who is willing to buy an EV and who should buy one.
Abstract: Electric vehicles (EVs) have noteworthy potential to reduce global and local emissions and are expected to become a relevant future market for vehicle sales. Both policy makers and car manufacturers have an interest to understand the first large EV user group, frequently referred to as ‘early adopters’. However, there are only a few empirical results available for this important group. In this paper, we analyse and discuss several empirical data sets from Germany, characterising this user group from both a user and a product perspective, i.e. who is willing to buy an EV and who should buy one. Our results show that the most likely group of private EV buyers in Germany are middle-aged men with technical professions living in rural or suburban multi-person households. They own a large share of vehicles in general, are more likely to profit from the economical benefits of these vehicles due to their annual vehicle kilometres travelled and the share of inner-city driving. They state a higher willingness to buy electric vehicles than other potential adopter groups and their higher socio-economic status allows them to purchase EVs. In contrast to this, inhabitants of major cities are less likely to buy EVs since they form a small group of car owners in general, their mileage is too low for EVs to pay off economically and they state lower interest and lower willingness to pay for EVs than other groups. Our results indicate that transport policy promoting EVs should focus on middle-aged men with families from rural and sub-urban cities as first private EV buyers.

386 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a review of different strategies, algorithms and methods to implement a smart charging control system for plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) is presented, and also significant projects around the world about PEVs integration are presented.
Abstract: Plug-in electric vehicles (PEV) are emerging as an efficient and sustainable alternative for private and public road transportation. From the point of view of electric grids, PEVs are currently considered as simple loads due to their low market penetration. However, as the PEV fleet grows, implementation of an intelligent management system will be necessary in order to avoid large capital expenditures in network reinforcements and negative effects on electric distribution networks, such as: voltage deviations, transformers and lines saturations, increase of electrical losses, etc. These issues may jeopardize the safety and reliability of the grid. As a consequence, this topic has been researched in many papers where a wide range of solutions have been proposed. This paper presents a review of different strategies, algorithms and methods to implement a smart charging control system. Also significant projects around the world about PEVs integration are presented. Finally, on the basis of this review, main findings and some recommendations are presented.

370 citations

References
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Journal ArticleDOI
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

Journal ArticleDOI
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

Journal ArticleDOI
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

Journal ArticleDOI
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

Journal ArticleDOI
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