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 examine the relationship between overlapping regulatory and fiscal policies at the federal and state levels of government and conclude that the current suite of policies is not as effective as it could be, and potentially more expensive.
Abstract: We evaluate plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) policies currently implemented across the U.S. and the potential for these policies to facilitate widespread PEV diffusion. We examine the relationship between overlapping regulatory and fiscal policies at the federal and state levels of government. We argue that the current suite of policies is not as effective as it could be, and potentially more expensive. Our analysis suggests the existence of a tradeoff between the goals of increasing the market penetration of PEVs and that of limiting greenhouse gas emissions from the light-duty vehicle fleet. The way federal and state policies interact puts those two goals at odds, at least in the short-term. Drawing from the policy and economics literatures, we summarize a series of recommendations and incentives that could deliver a more balanced approach to the achievement of those two policy goals. We conclude with some research suggestions.
17 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explored how attitude, subjective norm (SN), and perceived behavioral control (PBC) significantly influenced users' sustainable consumption intentions and explored ways in which environmental concern significantly influenced ATT, SN, PBC and sustainable consumption intention of the users.
Abstract: The purpose of the current study is to explore barriers influencing consumers’ intention to adopt sustainable electric vehicles (EV) based on the modified theory of planned behavior (TPB) model. Structural equation modeling (SEM) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were employed to analyze the research model, using 262 valid responses. The findings of the current study explored how attitude (ATT), subjective norm (SN), and perceived behavioral control (PBC) significantly influenced users’ sustainable consumption intentions. The finding also explored ways in which environmental concern significantly influenced ATT, SN, PBC, and sustainable consumption intention of the users. Not only measurements of vehicle performance, namely safety, reliability, and range, but other factors, such as purchasing price, charging facility, and maintenance and battery cost also influenced consumers’ sustainable consumption intentions. The predictive power of the proposed model (R2 = 63.5) was better than the original TPB (R2 = 53.6). Results also indicated that Taiwanese are primarily concerned about the greenhouse effects on the environment, which reflected their sustainable consumption intentions. The conclusions of the current study could assist government and policymakers in designing sustainable programs, which could improve consumers’ sustainable consumption intentions to prevent further air pollution and reduce CO2 emissions from the transportation sector.
16 citations
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors assessed 94 studies published in the era of BEVs becoming visible market products between 2010 and 2019 and concluded that few studies are designed to identify causal effects of facilitators and obstacles, and findings on widely presumed key determinants are surprisingly mixed and contextdependent.
16 citations
Proceedings Article•
01 Sep 2015TL;DR: In this paper, a stated choice survey was administered to 440 households in Perth and it was noted that 48 (10.9%) respondents chose the EV option as their best across all six stated choice replications.
Abstract: The recent revival of electric vehicle (EV) technology is in its early days and in markets like Australia the number of EV’s on the road is very small. With limited real market data available for research, stated choice (SC) experiments have emerged as a popular tool to study the factors that influence the uptake of EVs. The assumption behind these experiments is that respondents make trade-offs on the attributes presented in the instrument. As part of the Western Australian Electric Vehicle Trial (WAEVT), a stated choice survey was administered to 440 households in Perth. It was noted that 48 (10.9%) respondents chose the EV option as their best across all six stated choice replications. We hypothesise that for most of these respondents their choices reflect their desire to present themselves in a favourable light. In this instance the social desirability biasness manifests in non-trading behaviour. There were also 24 respondents who chose EV as their least preffered option. We hypothesise that for these respondents lack of interest or confidence in the new technology and inertia may have driven their decisions. This paper offers a demographic and psychographic profile of the non-traders - made possible by items being added to the experiment. While there was little differences between the demographic profiles, there was some evidence from the attitudinal data that the nontrading was due to social desirability. Non-traders (Best) scored significantly higher on environmental concerns and subjective norms, were more likely to rate their intention to purchase and use an EV higher and chose EV in all choice sets, despite the experimentally controlled attributes. Conversely, non-traders (Worst) had the lowest environmental concerns and subjective norms. From a choice modelling perceptive, keeping non-traders in the estimation biases the taste parameters and therefore the willingness-to-pay (WTP) measures. However, the choice tasks asked respondents to indicate their least preferred option as well as their best. When indicating the worst alternative the ‘social desirability’ non-traders do appear to be making decisions based on the attributes, which is consistent with the rest of the sample.
16 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the distribution of rebates across census tracts and socioeconomic divisions was analyzed for the Clean Vehicle Rebate Project (CVRP) in California between 2010 and 2015.
Abstract: To motivate consumers to buy fuel-efficient vehicles, governments have established national and state incentives to change purchasing behaviors. With California’s Clean Vehicle Rebate Project (CVRP) as a case study, this paper assesses the distribution of rebates across census tracts and socioeconomic divisions. Race–ethnicity, income, and socioeconomic and environmental disadvantage were used to understand variations in rebate allocation across census tracts in California between 2010 and 2015. Ordinary least squares (OLS) and negative binomial regressions were conducted to identify the definitive effect that income played in obtaining rebates: wealthier census tracts secure more rebates. Furthermore, this analysis determined a significant and negative relationship between the proportion of Hispanic and African-American residents and the number of rebates received per household, even when controlling for income. These findings suggest that the distribution of CVRP rebates is problematic across economic a...
16 citations
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...This is supported by research that has shown that this type of infrastructure is key for market penetration of clean vehicles (33, 34)....
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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