An examination of consumer demand in the secondary niche market for fuel cell vehicles in Europe

If fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) are to reach the mass market they must first be adopted into and pass through the niche market phase. The term niche market has, in the current study, been separated into two different levels, here termed as primary and secondary niche markets. Both of these will be critical for FCVs and are examined in the paper. These two niche markets provide time for the mass market to see the product and build up a mass market pull, for the technological trajectory to start, and, time where the economics of the product are not the overriding concern. This paper gives an overview of the framework of adoption within the two niche markets and then concentrates on the second of these niche markets and its implications for FCVs. It is within the secondary niche market that the FCV will first come into direct competition with the internal combustion engine vehicle, and it is here that its utility, or usefulness, will be assessed by the adopter. The secondary niche market, unlike the mass market, does not operate under conditions of constrained utility maximisation, but are prepared to pay a premium of adoption. Modelling of the premium that the secondary niche market adopters would be prepared to pay today for FCVs provides us with an indication of how much further, technologically, they need to be before they are consumer ready. (C) 2003 International Association for Hydrogen Energy. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.