Potential demand for alternative fuel vehicles

This paper analyzes the potential demand for alternative fuel vehicles. The alternative fuel vehicles we consider are liquid propane gas and electric powered vehicles in addition to dual-fuel vehicles. The data were obtained from a stated preference survey in which each respondent, in a randomly selected sample, was exposed to 15 experiments. In each experiment the respondents were asked to rank three hypothetical vehicles characterized by specific attributes, according to the respondents' preferences. Several versions of a random utility model are formulated and estimated. They include a model for rank ordered data, and models that allow for different types of correlation in preferences across experiments. Apart from one case the model specifications are estimated from the data on first choices. The most general model turns out to predict aggregate second and third choices rather well. The model is applied to assess the willingness to pay for alternative fuel vehicles. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.