Car sharing as a means to raise acceptance of electric vehicles: An empirical study on regime change in automobility

Abstract

Facing the dangers posed by climate change, the mobility sector needs to undergo a transition towards sustainability. One way of reducing emissions in traffic is to establish the use of electric vehicles. However, given current market shares in Germany, the envisaged regime change from traditional combustion to electric engines seems rather unlikely, triggering the search for new options for dynamic market growth. Recent research has shown consumers’ insufficient knowledge and high uncertainty towards electric vehicle (EV) technology. To overcome such acceptance barriers, this study hypothesises that experience in using car-sharing services—especially EV car sharing—can lead to higher acceptance of EV technology, entailing higher market diffusion.Using the Technology Acceptance Model, a quantitative survey with car-sharing users and non-users was conducted to assess the impact of car-sharing experience on acceptance of EVs. Furthermore, five possible predictors of EV acceptance were tested: mobility, car ownership, urbanity, ecological awareness and technophilia. Car-sharing users rated perceived EV usefulness higher than people without car-sharing experience. They also show a higher intention of buying EVs than non-users. Intention to use EVs in car-sharing schemes is positive amongst both groups. Identifying predictors of EV acceptance, results show that urbanity, ecological awareness, technophilia and car-sharing experience generally increase EV acceptance.Study results indicate that greater EV acceptance could be achieved by addressing highly mobile individuals living in urban areas, especially by having users of traditional car sharing switch to EV car sharing. Promoting EV car-sharing services and pushing a modal shift—in terms of reducing car ownership and raising individual mobility—in urban areas can serve as a policy instrument to push the mobility regime change towards EV technology.