Abstract

Noxious diesel emissions far above official limits and the need to rapidly reduce-greenhouse gases generate widespread calls for banning fossil-fueled cars in Europe. This report shows that it is possible to electrify 50 per cent of all new cars in the EU by 2030.  This, however, requires massive investment in European battery production capacity, and a long-term commitment to sustainable supply of critical materials. In addition a large-scale expansion of the charging infrastructure is needed, in particular at home and at work places, which account for around 95 per cent of all battery charging. Moreover, local grids will need enforcement in most countries. The additional electricity demand must be satisfied at a time when many coal-fired and nuclear-based power plants will be decommissioned.  Plug-in hybrids, which combine a downsized combustion engine with an electric motor, will probably play an important role, both to relieve long-distance drivers of range anxiety and to reduce the demand for scarce virgin metals, in particular cobalt.  To make the shift happen, an EU-wide Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate needs to be established from 2025, with planned stringency increases every second year or so. Such a regulation is less vulnerable to budget restraints and changing relative prices than financial incentives. At the same time, the regulatory demands on manufacturers to reduce CO2 emissions from combustions engines need to become more stringent and apply to all combustion engines, including those in plug-in hybrids. Such a combination of policies will make it possible to realize the overall target of 50 per cent electrification of new cars in a robust and flexible way. "p"Financial support from Jan Wallander´s, Tom Hedelius' and Tore Browald´s research foundations at Svenska Handelsbanken, Stockholm.

Abstract

As China is facing environmental problems, they are producing positive policies in order to stimulate the sales of electric vehicles. In addition, China is one of the largest electric vehicle markets in the world and the electric vehicles market has a promising growth potential. In light of this, this thesis aims to investigate the factors affecting Chinese consumers’ willingness to purchase electric vehicles. This thesis draws on rational choice theory to analyze the six determining factors including driving range of electric vehicles, charging infrastructure, purchase cost, government financial incentives, individual environmental awareness and perceived social influence, as electric vehicles are not cheap goods and make consumers take full consideration before buying. This study adopts a quantitative approach and conducts a survey to investigate this topic. Based on 249 online questionnaires from Chinese consumers, this study employs SPSS to conduct a regression analysis to test the six determining factors. The empirical results indicate that charging infrastructure, government financial incentives, individual environmental awareness and perceived social influence have significant impact on Chinese consumers’ willingness to purchase electric vehicles, while our results do not show that the driving range of electric vehicles and purchase cost matters in influencing Chinese consumers’ willingness to purchase electric vehicles. Meanwhile, this study contributes to the research on the consumption of electric vehicles by providing an empirical context of China, considering rational choice theory and understanding perceived social influence. Also, this study provides relevant suggestions to electric vehicle manufacturers and the Chinese government about how to encourage the Chinese to adopt electric vehicles in China. Keywords: Electric Vehicles, Willingness to purchase, SPSS, Rational choice theory, Chin