Mainstream consumers driving plug-in battery-electric and plug-in hybrid electric cars: A qualitative analysis of responses and evaluations

被引:499
作者
Graham-Rowe, Ella [2 ]
Gardner, Benjamin [3 ]
Abraham, Charles [1 ]
Skippon, Stephen [4 ]
Dittmar, Helga [2 ]
Hutchins, Rebecca [5 ]
Stannard, Jenny [5 ]
机构
[1] Univ Exeter, Peninsula Coll Med & Dent, Exeter EX1 2LU, Devon, England
[2] Univ Sussex, Sch Psychol, Falmer BN1 9QH, England
[3] UCL, Hlth Behav Res Ctr, Dept Epidemiol & Publ Hlth, London WC1E 6BT, England
[4] Shell Technol Ctr Thornton, Shell Global Solut UK, Chester CH1 3SH, Cheshire, England
[5] Transport Res Lab, Wokingham RG40 3GA, Berks, England
关键词
Electric vehicles; Mainstream adoption; Marketing; Identity; Attitudes; Technology; CLEAN-FUEL VEHICLES; HABIT FORMATION; PREFERENCES; CALIFORNIA; EMISSIONS; BEHAVIOR; DEMAND; MARKET;
D O I
10.1016/j.tra.2011.09.008
中图分类号
F [经济];
学科分类号
020101 [政治经济学];
摘要
Plug-in electric vehicles can potentially emit substantially lower CO2 emissions than internal combustion engine vehicles, and so have the potential to reduce transport emissions without curtailing personal car use. Assessing the potential uptake of these new categories of vehicles requires an understanding of likely consumer responses. Previous in-depth explorations of appraisals and evaluations of electric vehicles have tended to focus on 'early adopters', who may not represent mainstream consumers. This paper reports a qualitative analysis of responses to electric cars, based on semi-structured interviews conducted with 40 UK non-commercial drivers (20 males, 20 females; age 24-70 years) at the end of a seven-day period of using a battery electric car (20 participants) or a plug-in hybrid car (20 participants). Six core categories of response were identified: (1) cost minimisation; (2) vehicle confidence; (3) vehicle adaptation demands; (4) environmental beliefs; (5) impression management; and, underpinning all other categories, (6) the perception of electric cars generally as 'work in progress' products. Results highlight potential barriers to the uptake of current-generation (2010) plug-in electric cars by mainstream consumers. These include the prioritization of personal mobility needs over environmental benefits, concerns over the social desirability of electric vehicle use, and the expectation that rapid technological and infrastructural developments will make current models obsolete. Implications for the potential uptake of future electric vehicles are discussed. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
引用
收藏
页码:140 / 153
页数:14
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