How do incentives for electric cars affect purchase decisions?

Abstract

In this paper, the impact of five different incentives for buyers of zero emission vehicles (ZEV) is investigated with a discrete choice experiment. The tested incentives are direct subsidies, free parking, a separate CO2 tax, an increase of fuel costs by tax elevation, and an increase of the availability of charging infrastructure. By implementing the mobility patterns of the respondents, it was possible to simulate estimations of ecological impact and modal shift with a random utility model (mixed logit). Based on 875 complete questionnaires, the simulation results show that giving incentives to these buyers ecological rebound effects are expected: Mostly citizens with a low CO2-emission rate concerning their daily transportation routines (cyclists and public transport users) will exploit these incentives – they show a significantly higher likelihood of choosing alternatively propelled cars than conventional car users. Consumers that usually use a passenger car for their daily mobility routines are mostly unwilling to change to ZEV even when incentives are given.