Consumer preferences for electric vehicles: a literature review

Widespread adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) may contribute to the alleviation of problems such as environmental pollution, global warming and oil dependency. However, the current market penetration of EV is relatively low in spite of many governments implementing strong promotion policies. This paper presents a comprehensive review of studies on consumer preferences for EV, aiming to better inform policy-makers and give direction to further research. First, we compare the economic and psychological approach towards this topic, followed by a conceptual framework of EV preferences which is then implemented to organise our review. We also briefly review the modelling techniques applied in the selected studies. Estimates of consumer preferences for financial, technical, infrastructure and policy attributes are then reviewed. A categorisation of influential factors for consumer preferences into groups such as socio-economic variables, psychological factors, mobility condition, social influence, etc. is then made and their effects are elaborated. Finally, we discuss a research agenda to improve EV consumer preference studies and give recommendations for further research.

Abbreviations: AFV: alternative fuel vehicle; BEV: battery electric vehicle; CVs: conventional vehicles; EVs: electric vehicles; FCV: fuel cell vehicle; HCM: hybrid choice model; HEV: hybrid electric vehicle (non plug-in); HOV: high occupancy vehicle; MNL: MultiNomial logit; MXL: MiXed logit model; PHEV: plug-in hybrid electric vehicle; RP: revealed preference; SP: stated preference.     

Consumer preferences for battery electric vehicles: A choice experimental survey in China

To accelerate the diffusion of battery electric vehicles (BEVs), consumer preferences for different products and policy attributes must be determined. Although previous studies have investigated consumer preferences for some product attributes, including purchase price, operation cost, driving range, and charging time, limited studies have discussed the broader aspects of product attributes, such as battery warranty and depreciation rate. Moreover, market-oriented incentives, including the personal carbon trading (PCT) scheme and the tradable driving credits (TDC) scheme, can theoretically be effective alternatives to expensive purchase subsidies. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence that confirms the influence of these two schemes on BEV adoption. To fill these gaps, we conducted a stated preference choice experimental survey in China and investigated the effect of product attributes, existing policy incentives, and two emerging market-oriented incentives on BEV adoption. Our results reveal that along with the main product attributes, battery warranty has a significant positive effect on inducing mainstream consumers to adopt BEVs while no preference difference occurs among existing policy incentives after purchase subsidies are abolished. For young consumers, almost all incentives that reduce the operation cost (e.g., PCT) or increase convenience (e.g., TDC) can increase their adoption of BEVs. These findings can provide important implications for the government with regard to designing novel incentives and promoting BEV adoption.     

A choice experiment on alternative fuel vehicle preferences of private car owners in the Netherlands

This paper presents results of an online stated choice experiment on preferences of Dutch private car owners for alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs) and their characteristics. Results show that negative preferences for alternative fuel vehicles are large, especially for the electric and fuel cell car, mostly as a result of their limited driving range and considerable refueling times. Preference for AFVs increases considerably with improvements on driving range, refueling time and fuel availability. Negative AFV preferences remain, however, also with substantial improvements in AFV characteristics; the remaining willingness to accept is on average € 10,000–€ 20,000 per AFV. Results from a mixed logit model show that consumer preferences for AFVs and AFV characteristics are heterogeneous to a large extent, in particular for the electric car, additional detour time and fuel time for the electric and fuel cell car. An interaction model reveals that annual mileage is by far the most important factor that determines heterogeneity in preferences for the electric and fuel cell car. When annual mileage increases, the preference for electric and fuel cell cars decreases substantially, whilst the willingness to pay for driving range increases substantially. Other variables such as using the car for holidays abroad and the daily commute also appear to be relevant for car choice.     

Linking Chinese cultural values and the adoption of electric vehicles: The mediating role of ethical evaluation

Electric vehicles (EVs) have been regarded as one of the most prominent green technologies, touted to help reduce global energy consumption and carbon emissions. China advocates the development of EVs to address the increasing challenges of climate change, urban air pollution and energy security, but consumers’ enthusiasm for adopting EVs remains low. In this paper, we present a concept model that hypothesizes Chinese cultural values as a key to understanding Chinese consumers’ intention to adopt EVs. Based on a nationwide online survey in China, this study explores Chinese consumers’ attitudes toward two types of EVs—battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles—by identifying the influence of the human–nature relationship, long-term orientation, face consciousness, and risk attitude, as well as the mediating effect of deontological ethical evaluation in decision-making. The results suggest that public policy and social marketing efforts should pay more attention to the role of cultural values when promoting environmentally sustainable technologies, and importantly, that the promotion efforts should differ for different cultural elements and products with different levels of innovativeness.     

The effect of attitudes on reference-dependent preferences: Estimation and validation for the case of alternative-fuel vehicles

Several recent studies in transportation have analysed how choices made by individuals are influenced by attitudes. Other studies have contributed to our understanding of apparently non-rational behaviour by examining how choices may reflect reference-dependent preferences. This paper examines how reference-dependent preferences and attitudes together may explain individual choices. In a modelling framework based on a hybrid choice model allowing for both concepts, we investigate how attitudes and reference-dependent preferences interact and how they affect willingness-to-pay measures and demand elasticities. Using a data set with stated choices among alternative-fuel vehicles, we see that allowing for reference-dependent preferences improves our ability to explain the stated choices in the data and that the attitude (appreciation of car features) explains part of the preference heterogeneity across individuals. The results indicate that individuals have reference-dependent preferences that could be explained by loss aversion and that these are indeed related to an individual’s attitude towards car features. The models are validated using a large hold-out sample. This shows that the inclusion of attitudes improves the models’ ability to explain behaviour in the hold-out sample. While neither reference-dependent preferences nor the attitude affect the average willingness-to-pay measures in our sample, their effect on choice behaviour has implications for policy recommendations as segments with varying attitudes and reference values will act differently when affected by policy instruments related to the demand for alternative-fuel vehicles, e.g. subsidies.     

Development of driving cycles for electric vehicles in the context of the city of Florence

Strong efforts are spent in automotive engineering for the creation of so called Driving Cycles (DCs). Vehicle DC development has been a topic under research over the last thirty years, since it is a key activity both from an authority and from an industrial research point of view. Considering the innovative characteristics of Electric Vehicles (EVs) and their diffusion on certain contexts (e.g. city centers), the demand for tailored cycles arises. A proposal for driving data analysis and synthesis has been developed through the review and the selection of known literature experiences, having as a goal the application on a EVs focused case study. The measurement campaign has been conducted in the city of Florence, which includes limited traffic areas accessible to EVs. A fleet of EVs has been monitored through a non-invasive data logging system. After data acquisition, time-speed data series have been processed for filtering and grouping. The main product of the activity is a set of DCs obtained by pseudo-randomized selection of original data. The similarity of synthetic DCs to acquired data has been verified through the validation of cycle parameters. Finally, the new DCs and a selection of existing ones are compared on the basis of relevant kinematic parameters and expected energy consumption. The method followed for the creation of DCs has been implemented in a software package. It can be used to generate cycles and, under certain boundary conditions, to get a filtered access to the measured data and provide integration within simulation environment.     

The transition to electric bikes in China: history and key reasons for rapid growth

Annual electric bike (e-bike) sales in China grew from 40,000 in 1998 to 10 million in 2005. This rapid transition from human-powered bicycles, buses and gasoline-powered scooters to an all-electric vehicle/fuel technology system is special in the evolution of transportation technology and, thus far, unique to China. We examine how and why e-bikes developed so quickly in China with particular focus on the key technical, economic, and political factors involved. This case study provides important insights to policy makers in China and abroad on how timely regulatory policy can change the purchase choice of millions and create a new mode of transportation. These lessons are especially important to China as it embarks on a large-scale transition to personal vehicles, but also to other countries seeking more sustainable forms of transportation.

Modelling energy consumption of electric freight vehicles in urban pickup/delivery operations: analysis and estimation on a real-world dataset

Electric Freight Vehicles (EFVs) are a promising and increasingly popular alternative to conventional trucks in urban pickup/delivery operations. A key concerned research topic is to develop trip-based Tank-to-Wheel (TTW) analyses/models for EFVs energy consumption: notably, there are just a few studies in this area. Leveraging an earlier research on passenger electric vehicles, this paper aims at filling this gap by proposing a microscopic backward highly-resolved power-based EFVs energy consumption model (EFVs-ECM). The model is estimated and validated against real-world data, collected on a fleet of five EFVs in the city centre of Rome, for a total of 144 observed trips between subsequent pickup/delivery stops. Different model specifications are tested and contrasted, with promising results, in line with previous findings on electric passenger vehicles.     

Travel mode choices in small cities of China: A case study of Changting

The existing literature on urban transportation planning in China focuses primarily on large cities and neglects small cities. This paper aims to fill part of the knowledge gap by examining travel mode choice in Changting, a small city that has been experiencing fast spatial expansion and growing transportation problems. Using survey data collected from 1470 respondents on weekdays and weekends, the study investigates the relationship between mode choice and individuals’ socio-economic characteristics, trip characteristics, attitudes, and home and workplace built environments. While more than 35 percent of survey respondents are car owners, walk, bicycle, e-bike, and motorcycle still account for over 85 percent of trips made during peak hours. E-bike and motorcycle are the dominant means of travel on weekdays, but many people shift to walking and cycling on weekends, making non-motorized and semi-motorized travel especially important for non-commuting trips. Results of multinomial logistic regression show that: (1) job-housing balance might exert different effects on mode choice in different types of urban areas; (2) negative attitude towards e-bike and motorcycle is associated with more walking and cycling; and (3) land use diversity of workplace is related to commuting mode choice on weekdays, while land use diversities of both residential and activity places do not significantly affect mode choice on weekends. Our findings imply that planning and design for small cities needs to differentiate land use and transportation strategies in various types of areas, and to launch outreach programs to shift people’s mode choice from motorized travel to walking and cycling.     

The impact of car specifications,prices and incentives for battery electric vehicles in Norway: Choices of heterogeneous consumers

Electric vehicles (EVs), specifically Battery EVs (BEVs), can offer significant energy and emission savings over internal combustion engine vehicles. Norway has a long history of research and government incentives for BEVs. The BEV market in Norway allows us to fully examine consumers’ BEV choices influenced by car specifications, prices and government incentives (public bus lanes access, toll waiver and charging stations). The Random-Coefficient Discrete Choice Model (referred to as the BLP model) is applied to understand the choices of heterogeneous personal consumers and business buyers. Our study is instantiated on the entire EV sales data in Norway from 2011 to 2013, as well as a set of demographics at the municipality level. The results suggest significant positive effects of BEV technology improvement, space, toll waiver and charging station density on EV demand for both personal consumers and business buyers. However, the effects on business buyers may be generally less pronounced than on personal consumers. Interestingly, bus lanes access demonstrates a negative impact for personal consumers, possibly due to consumers’ concern regarding bus lane congestion. In addition, preferences on the BEV price can vary statistically among consumers with different income levels. Compared to the BEV technology development, demographical features and municipal incentives may have generally less impacts on market shares within the BEV market.