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Increasing Electric Vehicle Uptake by Updating Public Policies to Shift Attitudes and Perceptions: Case Study of New Zealand

Author

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  • Gail Helen Broadbent

    (Faculty of Sciences, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, UNSW, Sydney 2052, Australia)

  • Graciela Isabel Metternicht

    (Faculty of Sciences, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, UNSW, Sydney 2052, Australia)

  • Thomas Oliver Wiedmann

    (School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, UNSW, Sydney 2052, Australia)

Abstract

Actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are required from all actors. Adopting plug-in electric vehicles (EV) would reduce light motor vehicle travel emissions, a significant and rising emissions source. To encourage EV uptake, many governments have implemented policies which may be less effective than desired. Using New Zealand as a case study, we surveyed private motorists. The results show that consumers are heterogeneous, with varying car-buying motivations, perceptions, attitudes to EVs and awareness of policies. Uniquely, we segmented motorists into four attitudinal groups to ascertain characteristics potentially affecting EV readiness to provide evidence to improve policies and aid social marketing. Our results show the next-most-ready to buy EVs are early mainstream consumers—designated the EV Positives—who were most concerned about vehicle range, perceptions of EV expense, charging-related inconvenience and the unknown value proposition of batteries, and were relatively unaware of incentives compared to EV Owners. The EV Positives favored incentives designed to effect purchase price reductions and increase nation-wide fast-charger deployment. To increase awareness of EVs and shift perceptions of EV expense and inconvenience, we suggest policies that potentially increase EV adoption rates and suggest reframing the language to appeal to EV Positives through information programs. Increasing EV procurement by organizations could increase opportunities for positive information dissemination via employees.

Suggested Citation

  • Gail Helen Broadbent & Graciela Isabel Metternicht & Thomas Oliver Wiedmann, 2021. "Increasing Electric Vehicle Uptake by Updating Public Policies to Shift Attitudes and Perceptions: Case Study of New Zealand," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-20, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:10:p:2920-:d:557084
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Catalin Vrabie, 2022. "Electric Vehicles Optimism versus the Energy Market Reality," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-15, April.
    2. Leonardo Bitencourt & Tiago Abud & Rachel Santos & Bruno Borba, 2021. "Bass Diffusion Model Adaptation Considering Public Policies to Improve Electric Vehicle Sales—A Brazilian Case Study," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-19, September.
    3. Broadbent, Gail & Allen, Cameron & Wiedmann, Thomas & Metternicht, Graciela, 2022. "The role of electric vehicles in decarbonising Australia’s road transport sector: modelling ambitious scenarios," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    4. Aasness, Marie Aarestrup & Odeck, James, 2023. "Road users’ attitudes towards electric vehicle incentives: Empirical evidence from Oslo in 2014–2020," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    5. Roman Chinoracky & Natalia Stalmasekova & Tatiana Corejova, 2022. "Trends in the Field of Electromobility—From the Perspective of Market Characteristics and Value-Added Services: Literature Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-19, August.
    6. Andri Ottesen & Sumayya Banna & Basil Alzougool, 2023. "Women Will Drive the Demand for EVs in the Middle East over the Next 10 Years—Lessons from Today’s Kuwait and 1960s USA," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(9), pages 1-24, April.
    7. Nnaemeka Vincent Emodi & Scott Dwyer & Kriti Nagrath & John Alabi, 2022. "Electromobility in Australia: Tariff Design Structure and Consumer Preferences for Mobile Distributed Energy Storage," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-18, May.
    8. Broadbent, Gail Helen & Allen, Cameron Ian & Wiedmann, Thomas & Metternicht, Graciela Isabel, 2022. "Accelerating electric vehicle uptake: Modelling public policy options on prices and infrastructure," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 155-174.

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