Individual characteristics and stated preferences for alternative energy sources and propulsion technologies in vehicles: A discrete choice analysis for Germany

With respect to the German goal of a transition to a lead market for electromobility within a short time period, this paper empirically examines the preferences for alternative energy sources or propulsion technologies in vehicles and particularly for electric vehicles. The data stem from a stated preference discrete choice experiment with 598 potential German car buyers. In order to simulate a realistic future purchase situation, seven vehicle types were incorporated in each of the six choice sets, i.e. hybrid, gas, biofuel, hydrogen, and electric vehicles besides common gasoline and diesel vehicles. The econometric analysis with flexible multinomial probit models reveals that potential car buyers in Germany currently have a low stated preference for electric, hydrogen, and hybrid vehicles. While our paper also discusses the impact of common vehicle attributes such as purchase price or service station availability, it particularly considers the effect of socio-demographic and environmental awareness variables. The estimation results reveal that younger potential car buyers have a higher stated preference for hydrogen and electric vehicles, males have a higher stated choice of hydrogen vehicles, and environmentally aware potential car buyers have a higher stated preference for hydrogen and electric vehicles. These results suggest that common policy instruments such as the promotion of research and development, taxation, or subsidization in the field of electromobility could be supplemented by strategies to increase the social acceptance of alternative vehicle types that are directly oriented to these population groups. Methodologically, our study highlights the importance of the inclusion of taste persistence across the choice sets and a high number of random draws in the Geweke–Hajivassiliou–Keane simulator in the simulated maximum likelihood estimation of the multinomial probit models.     

Electric vehicles: How much range is required for a day’s driving?

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.     

Modelling market diffusion of electric vehicles with real world driving data – German market and policy options

Plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) have the potential to reduce green house gas emissions from the transport sector. However, the limited electric range of PEVs could impede their market introduction. Still some potential users are willing to pay more for PEVs. The combined effect of these and other influencing factors as well as the resulting future market evolution are unclear. Here, we study the market evolution of PEVs in Germany until 2020. Our results reveal a great deal of uncertainty in the market evolution of PEVs due to external conditions and the users’ willingness to pay. We find the future share of PEVs in German passenger car stock to range from 0.4% to almost 3% by 2020. Energy prices have a large impact on PEV market evolution as a 25% increase in fuel prices would double the number of PEVs in stock by 2020 compared to a reference scenario. We find a special depreciation allowance for commercial vehicles and a subsidy of 1000 Euro as the most effective and efficient monetary policy options. The high uncertainty of the market evolution implies that policies to foster market diffusion of PEVs should be dynamically adaptable to react to changing framework conditions.     

Methods for forecasting the market penetration of electric drivetrains in the passenger car market

Current car technologies will not solve upcoming challenges of mitigating greenhouse gas emissions in road transport. Projections of the market penetration by alternative drive train technologies are controversial regarding both forecast market shares and applied scientific methods. Accepting this latter challenge, we provide a (so far missing) overview of methods applied in this field and give some recommendations for further work. Our focus is to classify the applied methods into a convenient pattern and to analyse models from the recent scientific literature which consider the electrification of light-duty vehicles. We differentiate the following bottom-up approaches: Econometric models with disaggregated data (such as discrete choice), and agent-based simulation models. The group of top-down models are subdivided into econometric models with aggregated data (e.g. vehicle stock data), system dynamics, as well as integrated assessment models with general equilibrium models. It becomes obvious that some methods have a stronger methodological background whereas others require comprehensive data sets or can be combined more flexibly with other methods. Even though there is no dominant method, we can identify a trend in the literature towards data-driven hybrid approaches, which considers micro and macro aspects influencing the market penetration of electric vehicles.     

Optimal development of alternative fuel station networks considering node capacity restrictions

A potential solution to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the transport sector is the use of alternative fuel vehicles (AFV). As global GHG emission standards have been in place for passenger cars for several years, infrastructure modelling for new AFV is an established topic. However, as the regulatory focus shifts towards heavy-duty vehicles (HDV), the market diffusion of AFV-HDV will increase as will planning the relevant AFV infrastructure for HDV. Existing modelling approaches need to be adapted, because the energy demand per individual refill increases significantly for HDV and there are regulatory as well as technical limitations for alternative fuel station (AFS) capacities at the same time. While the current research takes capacity restrictions for single stations into account, capacity limits for locations (i.e. nodes) – the places where refuelling stations are built such as highway entries, exits or intersections – are not yet considered. We extend existing models in this respect and introduce an optimal development for AFS considering (station) location capacity restrictions. The proposed method is applied to a case study of a potential fuel cell heavy-duty vehicle AFS network. We find that the location capacity limit has a major impact on the number of stations required, station utilization and station portfolio variety.     

Optimizing charging station locations for urban taxi providers

Recently, electric vehicles are gaining importance which helps to reduce dependency on oil, increases energy efficiency of transportation, reduces carbon emissions and noise, and avoids tail pipe emissions. Because of short daily driving distances, high mileage, and intermediate waiting time, fossil-fuelled taxi vehicles are ideal candidates for being replaced by battery electric vehicles (BEVs). Moreover, taxi BEVs would increase visibility of electric mobility and therefore encourage others to purchase an electric vehicle. Prior to replacing conventional taxis with BEVs, a suitable charging infrastructure has to be established. This infrastructure consists of a sufficiently dense network of charging stations taking into account the lower driving ranges of BEVs.In this case study we propose a decision support system for placing charging stations in order to satisfy the charging demand of electric taxi vehicles. Operational taxi data from about 800 vehicles is used to identify and estimate the charging demand for electric taxis based on frequent origins and destinations of trips. Next, a variant of the maximal covering location problem is formulated and solved to satisfy as much charging demand as possible with a limited number of charging stations. Already existing fast charging locations are considered in the optimization problem. In this work, we focus on finding regions in which charging stations should be placed rather than exact locations. The exact location within an area is identified in a post-optimization phase (e.g., by authorities), where environmental conditions are considered, e.g., the capacity of the power network, availability of space, and legal issues.Our approach is implemented in the city of Vienna, Austria, in the course of an applied research project that has been conducted in 2014. Local authorities, power network operators, representatives of taxi driver guilds as well as a radio taxi provider participated in the project and identified exact locations for charging stations based on our decision support system.     

Prospects for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in the United States and Japan: A general equilibrium analysis

The plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) may offer a potential near term, low-carbon alternative to today’s gasoline- and diesel-powered vehicles. A representative vehicle technology that runs on electricity in addition to conventional fuels was introduced into the MIT Emissions Prediction and Policy Analysis (EPPA) model as a perfect substitute for internal combustion engine (ICE-only) vehicles in two likely early-adopting markets, the United States and Japan. We investigate the effect of relative vehicle cost and all-electric range on the timing of PHEV market entry in the presence and absence of an advanced cellulosic biofuels technology and a strong (450 ppm) economy-wide carbon constraint. Vehicle cost could be a significant barrier to PHEV entry unless fairly aggressive goals for reducing battery costs are met. If a low-cost PHEV is available we find that its adoption has the potential to reduce CO₂ emissions, refined oil demand, and under a carbon policy the required CO₂ price in both the United States and Japan. The emissions reduction potential of PHEV adoption depends on the carbon intensity of electric power generation. Thus, the technology is much more effective in reducing CO₂ emissions if adoption occurs under an economy-wide cap and trade system that also encourages low-carbon electricity generation.     

Demand forecasting of diesel passenger car considering consumer preference and government regulation in South Korea

Changing market regulations in South Korea have allowed diesel-fueled passenger cars in the domestic market. The diffusion of diesel cars is tied to issues of environmental impact, energy supply and demand, and changes in tax revenue. Policymakers can influence demand for diesel vehicles to protect social welfare and to observe international environmental protection laws. On the supply side, carmakers need to know consumer preferences regarding new vehicles to arrive at development strategies.This study uses microsimulated demand forecasting to address these issues and predict consumer demand for diesel passenger cars. The model accommodates governmental policies and car attributes such as price and engine efficiency. We find that consumers will likely prefer diesel passenger cars to gasoline ones due to the low operation costs of the former in spite of high purchase price when diesel is relatively cheaper than gasoline. Finally we find that diesel passenger cars will capture a 42% market penetration ratio under the pricing system suggested by the Ministry of Environment of Korea.     

What is the market potential of plug-in electric vehicles as commercial passenger cars? A case study from Germany

Commercial passenger cars are a possible early market segment for plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs). Compared to privately owned vehicles, the commercial vehicle segment is characterized by higher mileage and a higher share of vehicle sales in Germany. To this point, there are only few studies which analyze the commercial passenger car sector and arrive at contradictory results due to insufficient driving profile data with an observation period of only one day. Here, we calculate the market potential of PEVs for the German commercial passenger car sector by determining the technical and economical potential for PEVs in 2020 from multi-day driving profiles. We find that commercial vehicles are better suited for PEVs than private ones since they show higher average annual mileage and drive more regularly. About 87% of the analyzed three-week vehicle profiles can technically be fulfilled by battery electric vehicles (BEVs) with an electric driving range of about 110 km while plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) with an electric range of 40 km could obtain an electric driving share of 60% on average. In moderate energy price scenarios, PEVs can reach a market share of 2–4% in the German commercial passenger car sales by 2020 and especially the large commercial branches (Trade, Manufacturing, Administrative services and Other services) are important. However, our analysis shows a high sensitivity of results to energy and battery prices as well as electric consumptions.     

Consumer preferences for alternative fuel vehicles: A discrete choice analysis

This paper analyzes the potential demand for privately used alternative fuel vehicles using German stated preference discrete choice data. By applying a mixed logit model, we find that the most sensitive group for the adoption of alternative fuel vehicles embraces younger, well-educated, and environmentally aware car buyers, who have the possibility to plug-in their car at home, and undertake numerous urban trips. Moreover, many households are willing to pay considerable amounts for greater fuel economy and emission reduction, improved driving range and charging infrastructure, as well as for enjoying vehicle tax exemptions and free parking or bus lane access. The scenario results suggest that conventional vehicles will maintain their dominance in the market. Finally, an increase in the battery electric vehicles’ range to a level comparable with all other vehicles has the same impact as a multiple measures policy intervention package.     

Willingness-to-pay for infrastructure investments for alternative fuel vehicles

This study investigates potential demand for infrastructure investment for alternative fuel vehicles by applying stated preference methods to a Japanese sample. The potential demand is estimated on the basis of how much people are willing to pay for alternative fuel vehicles under various refueling scenarios. Using the estimated parameters, the economic efficiency of establishing battery-exchange stations for electric vehicles is examined. The results indicate that infrastructural development of battery-exchange stations can be efficient when electric vehicle sales exceed 5.63% of all new vehicle sales. Further, we find a complementary relationship between the cruising ranges of alternative fuel vehicles and the infrastructure established.     

US residential charging potential for electric vehicles

We assess existing and potential charging infrastructure for plug-in vehicles in US households using data from the American Housing Survey and the Residential Energy Consumption Survey. We estimate that less than half of US vehicles have reliable access to a dedicated off-street parking space at an owned residence where charging infrastructure could be installed. Specifically, while approximately 79% households have off-street parking for at least some of their vehicles, only an estimated 56% of vehicles have a dedicated off-street parking space – and only 47% at an owned residence. Approximately 22% vehicles currently have access to a dedicated home parking space within reach of an outlet sufficient to recharge a small plug-in vehicle battery pack overnight. Access to faster charging, required for vehicles with longer electric range, will usually require infrastructure investment ranging from several hundred to several thousand dollars, depending on panel and construction requirements. We discuss sensitivity of results to uncertain factors and implications for the potential of mainstream penetration of plug-in vehicles.     

The economics of workplace charging

To overcome the range-anxiety problem and further shortcomings associated with electric vehicles, workplace charging (WPC) is gaining increasing attention. We propose a microeconomic model of WPC and use the approach to shed light on the incentives and barriers employees and employers face when deciding on demand for and supply of WPC. It is shown that under market conditions there is no WPC contract an employer is willing to offer and at the same time the majority of employees is willing to accept. To overcome the lack of demand or underprovision of WPC we discuss various ‘remedies’, involving subsidies to charging facility costs and adjustments in electricity tariffs or loading technologies. We find that direct subsidies to WPC facilities or subsidies combined with specific energy price policies could be a way to foster WPC provision. In contrast measures on the employee side that may help to stimulate the demand for WPC turn out to be less feasible. Hence, our results suggest that in order to promote WPC it is more promising to support employers in offering WPC contracts than to provide employees an incentive to accept WPC contracts. The study therefore gives a rationale for public initiatives being undertaken to boost WPC provision, as e.g. in the case of the US.     

Automated vehicles: exploring possible consequences of government (non)intervention for congestion and accessibility

ABSTRACT

Academic research on automated vehicles (AVs) has to date been dominated by the fields of engineering and computer science. Questions of how this potentially transformative technology should be governed remain under-researched and tend to concentrate on governing the technology’s early development. We respond in this paper by exploring the possible longer-term effect of government (lack of) intervention.

The paper tests the hypothesis that a “laissez-faire” governance approach is likely to produce less desirable outcomes in a scenario of mass uptake of AVs than would a well-planned set of government interventions. This is done using two prominent themes in transport policy – traffic flow and accessibility – in a scenario of high market penetration of Level-5 automated vehicles in capitalist market economies. The evidence used is drawn from a literature review and from the findings of a set of workshops with stakeholders.

We suggest that a laissez-faire approach will lead to an increase in traffic volume as a result of a growing population of “drivers” and a probable increase in kilometres driven per passenger. At the same time, the hoped-for increases in network efficiency commonly claimed are not guaranteed to come about without appropriate government intervention. The likely consequence is an increase in congestion. And, with respect to accessibility, it is likely that the benefits of AVs will be enjoyed by wealthier individuals and that the wider impacts of AV use (including sprawl) may lead to a deterioration in accessibility for those who depend on walking, cycling or collective transport.

We consider the range of possible government intervention in five categories: Planning/land-use; Regulation/policy; Infrastructure/technology; Service provision; and Economic instruments. For each category, we set out a series of interventions that might be used by governments (at city, region or state level) to manage congestion or protect accessibility in the AV scenario described. Many of these (e.g. road pricing) are already part of the policy mix but some (e.g. ban empty running of AVs) would be new. We find that all interventions applicable to the management of traffic flow would also be expected to contribute to the management of accessibility; we define a small number of additional interventions aimed at protecting the accessibility of priority groups.

Our general finding is that the adoption of a package of these interventions could be expected to lead to better performance against generic traffic-flow and accessibility objectives than would a laissez-faire approach, though questions of extent of application remain.

In our conclusions, we contrast laissez-faire with both anticipatory governance and “precautionary” governance and acknowledge the political difficulty associated with acting in the context of uncertainty. We point out that AVs do not represent the first emerging technology to offer both opportunities and risks and challenge governments at all levels to acknowledge the extent of their potential influence and, in particular, to examine methodically the options available to them and the potential consequences of pursuing them.     

Consumer intentions for alternative fuelled and autonomous vehicles: A segmentation analysis across six countries

Rapid advances in the development of autonomous and alternative-fuel vehicles (AFVs) are likely to transform the future of mobility and could bring benefits such as improved road safety and lower emissions. Achieving these potential benefits requires widespread consumer support for these disruptive technologies. To date, research to explore consumer perceptions of transport innovations has tended to consider them in isolation (e.g., driverless cars, electric vehicles). The current paper examines the predictors of consumer interest in and willing to pay for both AFVs and autonomous vehicles through a choice experiment conducted in six diverse markets: Germany, India, Japan, Sweden, UK and US. Using Latent Class Discrete Choice Models, we observe significant heterogeneity both within and across the country samples. For example, while Japanese consumers are generally willing to pay for autonomous vehicles, in most European countries, consumers need to be compensated for automation. Within countries, though, we found some segments – typically, those with a university degree, and self-identifying as having a pro-environmental identity and as being innovators– are more in favour of automation. Significantly, we also found that support for autonomous vehicles is associated with support for AFVs, perhaps, due to common demographic or socio-psychological predictors of both types of innovative technology. These findings are valuable for policymakers and the automotive industry in identifying potential early adopters, as well as consumer segments or cultures less convinced to adopt these innovative transport technologies.     

Willingness-to-pay for alternative fuel vehicle characteristics: A stated choice study for Germany

In the light of European energy efficiency and clean air regulations, as well as an ambitious electric mobility goal of the German government, we examine consumer preferences for alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs) based on a Germany-wide discrete choice experiment among 711 potential car buyers. We estimate consumers’ willingness-to-pay and compensating variation (CV) for improvements in vehicle attributes, also taking taste differences in the population into account by applying a latent class model with 6 distinct consumer segments. Our results indicate that about 1/3 of the consumers are oriented towards at least one AFV option, with almost half of them being AFV-affine, showing a high probability of choosing AFVs despite their current shortcomings. Our results suggest that German car buyers’ willingness-to-pay for improvements of the various vehicle attributes varies considerably across consumer groups and that the vehicle features have to meet some minimum requirements for considering AFVs. The CV values show that decision-makers in the administration and industry should focus on the most promising consumer group of ‘AFV aficionados’ and their needs. It also shows that some vehicle attribute improvements could increase the demand for AFVs cost-effectively, and that consumers would accept surcharges for some vehicle attributes at a level which could enable their private provision and economic operation (e.g. fast-charging infrastructure). Improvement of other attributes will need governmental subsidies to compensate for insufficient consumer valuation (e.g. battery capacity).     

An analysis of the retail and lifecycle cost of battery-powered electric vehicles

Regulators, policy analysts, automobile manufacturers, environmental groups, and others are debating the merits of policies regarding the development and use of battery-powered electric vehicles (BPEVs). At the crux of this debate is lifecycle cost: the annualized initial vehicle cost, plus annual operating and maintenance costs, plus battery replacement costs. To address this issue of cost, we have developed a detailed model of the performance, energy use, manufacturing cost, retail cost, and lifecycle cost of electric vehicles and comparable gasoline internal-combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs). This effort is an improvement over most previous studies of electric vehicle costs because instead of assuming important parameter values for such variables as vehicle efficiency and battery cost, we model these values in detail. We find that in order for electric vehicles to be cost-competitive with gasoline ICEVs, batteries must have a lower manufacturing cost, and a longer life, than the best lithium-ion and nickel–metal hydride batteries we modeled. We believe that it is most important to reduce the battery manufacturing cost to $100/kWh or less, attain a cycle life of 1200 or more and a calendar life of 12 years or more, and aim for a specific energy of around 100 Wh/kg.     

The asymmetric effects of income and fuel price on air transport demand

Forecasts of passenger demand are an important parameter for aviation planners. Air transport demand models typically assume a perfectly reversible impact of the demand drivers. However, there are reasons to believe that the impacts of some of the demand drivers such as fuel price or income on air transport demand may not be perfectly reversible. Two types of imperfect reversibility, namely asymmetry and hysteresis, are possible. Asymmetry refers to the differences in the demand impacts of a rising price or income from that of a falling price or income. Hysteresis refers to the dependence of the impacts of changing price or income on previous history, especially on previous maximum price or income. We use US time series data and decompose each of fuel price and income into three component series to develop an econometric model for air transport demand that is capable of capturing the potential imperfectly reversible relationships and test for the presence or absence of reversibility. We find statistical evidence of asymmetry and hysteresis – for both, prices and income – in air transport demand. Implications for policy and practice are then discussed.     

Car fuel-type choice under travel demand management and economic incentives

Future levels of vehicle air pollution in urban areas will depend on the proportion of new car buyers who opt for less polluting vehicles, as these appear on the market. This paper examines the factors likely to influence the demand for lower emission and zero emission vehicles. Using a discrete choice experiment, suburban driver commuters choose between three types of vehicle, one conventional, one fuel-efficient and one electric. Each is characterized by varying vehicle cost and performance measures, range and refueling rates, and commuting costs and times. The latter are manipulated to determine how their use as economic instruments might influence vehicle choice. All cost and time variables are expressed as ratios of the respondent’s current situation. Parameters of a multinomial discrete choice model are used in a choice simulator to estimate the average choice probability of each type of vehicle under different scenarios reflecting possible future relative vehicle prices and performance levels as well as differential commuting costs and times based on policies aimed at encouraging the purchase of cleaner vehicles. The evidence is that the latter economic instruments will have modest effects on vehicle choice. By contrast there would be a large shift of demand to cleaner and zero-emission vehicles provided their cost and performance came within an acceptable range of conventional vehicles.     

Electric vehicles in car sharing networks – Challenges and simulation model analysis

In this paper, we examine the operation of electric vehicles in urban car sharing networks. After surveying strategic and operational differences and comparing them to gasoline-fueled cars, a simulation study was carried out. The proposed discrete event simulation tool covered important operational characteristics of electric vehicles, including realistic charging routines. Different vehicle types were compared under various conditions and on multiple markets to determine their performance. The data obtained indicated the competitiveness of electric vehicles in car sharing networks. Key success factors included advantageous relations between the market environment (e.g. electricity and fuel prices) and important characteristics of electric cars (e.g. price and range).