Analyzing public awareness and acceptance of alternative fuel vehicles in China: The case of EV

The aim of this paper is to analyze consumers' awareness towards electric vehicle (EV) and examine the factors that are most likely to affect consumers' choice for EV in China. A comprehensive questionnaire survey has been conducted with 299 respondents from various driving schools in Nanjing. Three binary logistic regression models were used to determine the factors that contribute to consumers' acceptance of EVs, their purchase time and their purchase price. The results suggest that: (1) Whether a consumer chooses an EV is significantly influenced by the number of driver's licenses, number of vehicles, government policies and fuel price. (2) The timing of consumers' purchases of an EV is influenced by academic degree, annual income, number of vehicles, government policies, the opinion of peers and tax incentives. (3) The acceptance of purchase price of EVs is influenced by age, academic degree, number of family members, number of vehicles, the opinion of peers, maintenance cost and degree of safety. These findings will help understand consumer's purchase behavior of EVs and have important policy implications related to the promotions of EVs in China. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.