Evaluating the factors influencing purchase intention of electric vehicles in households owning conventional vehicles

In view of mitigating the threat of climate change due to emissions from transportation sector and to reduce the dependency on foreign countries for oil, many countries have started to develop policies for promoting sustainable and innovative transport technologies. Electric Vehicles (EVs) are considered as one of the best sustainable alternatives to Internal Combustion (IC) engine vehicles. In order to develop fiscal and non-fiscal policy measures for EVs, a thorough understanding about its public acceptability is inevitable for its successful penetration. Even though many policies are purposefully made for improving the EV adoption in developing countries such as India, its market share is still negligible compared to conventional vehicles. Therefore, a case study was conducted in a representative town in India by using a questionnaire survey. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was adopted to evaluate the influence of various attitudinal factors on EV purchase intention of the individuals. The results of the study revealed that, the attitudinal factors such as perceived benefits, social influence, price acceptance, performance, technological consciousness, and marketing, distribution and after-sales have positive effect on EV purchase intention. But, the factors like perceived barriers, policy attributes and perceived usefulness and ease of use causes an impeditive effect on EV adoption. People traveling short distances, having lower income, higher education and more experience with driving conventional vehicles is found to favor the adoption of EVs.

Automated summary

Countries have started developing policies to promote sustainable and innovative transport technologies, with electric vehicles being considered as a viable option. A study in India revealed that factors such as perceived benefits, social influence, and price acceptance have a positive impact on EV purchase intention, while perceived barriers, policy attributes, and ease of use have a negative effect on EV adoption. People with lower income, higher education, and more experience driving conventional vehicles are more likely to adopt EVs.