Exploring the Role of Perceived Range Anxiety in Adoption Behavior of Plug-in Electric Vehicles

TL;DR

This study models how perceived range anxiety affects electric vehicle adoption, revealing it influences preferences for battery EVs but not plug-in hybrids, using a nested logit model with survey data from California.

Contribution

It introduces a nested logit model incorporating range anxiety as a latent factor to analyze EV adoption behavior at multiple decision levels.

Findings

Range anxiety affects preference for BEV as an added vehicle.

Range anxiety does not significantly influence PHEV adoption decisions.

The model captures complex decision processes in EV market choices.

Abstract

A sustainable solution to negative externalities imposed by road transportation is replacing internal combustion vehicles with electric vehicles (EVs), especially plug-in EV (PEV) encompassing plug-in hybrid EV (PHEV) and battery EV (BEV). However, EV market share is still low and is forecast to remain low and uncertain. This shows a research need for an in-depth understanding of EV adoption behavior with a focus on one of the main barriers to the mass EV adoption, which is the limited electric driving range. The present study extends the existing literature in two directions; First, the influence of the psychological aspect of driving range, which is referred to as range anxiety, is explored on EV adoption behavior by presenting a nested logit (NL) model with a latent construct. Second, the two-level NL model captures individuals' decision on EV adoption behavior distinguished by vehicle transaction type and EV type, where the upper level yields the vehicle transaction type selected from the set of alternatives including no-transaction, sell, trade, and add. The fuel type of the vehicles decided to be acquired, either as traded-for or added vehicles, is simultaneously determined at the lower level from a set including conventional vehicle, hybrid EV, PHEV, and BEV. The model is empirically estimated using a stated preferences dataset collected in the State of California. A notable finding is that anxiety about driving range influences the preference for BEV, especially as an added than traded-for vehicle, but not the decision on PHEV adoption.