Factors influencing purchase of electric vehicles in China

The development of electric vehicle (EV) market has significant implications on reducing oil consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. It has been considered as an important mitigation strategy by China with strong incentive policies in the past few years. However, with the phasing out of financial subsidy, government and companies should come up with effective solutions to maintain the growing trend of China's EV market. In this study, the main factors that influence consumers' EV purchase in China's overall market and license plate-controlled (LPC) cities are analyzed using logistic regression.Ttests are then used to assess consumers' preferences and differences between LPC cities and cities with no license plate control (NLPC). The results suggest that the license plate control policy is more influential than purchasing subsidy to Chinese consumers, and the negative impact of subsidy phasing out can be alleviated by other policy instruments. To cope with future challenges, the government and automobile companies should pay more attention to the differences between LPC and NLPC cities regarding customers' EV preferences and influencing factors, and customize policy design towards NLPC cities. More public promotion of EVs are also required to eliminate potential consumers' misperceptions and increase social acceptance of EVs.