Energy Policy, Vol.94, 94-103, 2016
The effect of policy incentives on electric vehicle adoption
In order to increase the attractiveness of electric vehicles (EVs), packages of policy incentives are provided in many countries. However, it is still unclear how effective different policy incentives are. Also, it is questionable that they have the same impact on different groups of people. In this study, based on a stated-choice experiment, the effect of several potential policy incentives on EV-adoption, as well as the influence of socio-psychological determinants are investigated, using constructs of the Transtheoretical Model of Change (TTM) and the Protection Motivation Theory (PMT). The probability of stated EV-adoption increases if policy incentives are offered in the choice experiment, which is expected because of the decrease of the generalized cost of EV-use. The high stated valuation of free parking or access to bus lanes makes those incentives an efficient alternative to expensive subsidies. EV-adoption probability increases for people that are further in the process of behavioural change. However, the responsiveness to subsidies decreases for people in more advanced stages of-change. People that believe EVs to be effective in decreasing the negative externalities of the current transport system and people whose travel patterns can cope with the use of EVs also have a higher probability to choose the EV. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords:Electric vehicle adoption;Policy incentives;stated-choice;Transtheoretical Model of Change;Protection Motivation Theory