Electric vehicle purchase intentions of Chinese, Russian and Brazilian citizens: An international comparative study

Abstract

The adoption of electric vehicles is key to lowering the consumption of fossil fuels and emission of greenhouse gases. Cross-national surveys studying citizens' purchase intentions regarding electric vehicles (EVs) remain limited, especially when it comes to combining individual micro-level factors and contextual macro-level forces. Based on a cross-national dataset with 2806 respondents from China (n = 1078), Brazil (n = 929), and Russia (n = 799), this study analyzes variations and determinants of purchase intentions for EVs in these three countries. The survey results indicate that purchase intentions for EVs among Chinese citizens is higher than amongst Brazilian and Russian citizens. The purchasing intention of citizens in all three countries is especially high for people who have a wide social network, and if they already know somebody with an EV. Other macro-level factors, including pollution and charging infrastructure, only impact on purchasing intention in Brazil, while government policy initiatives for EVs seem to have limited effects in all three countries. Micro-level factors, such as age and education, do not have any statistically significant effect in Russia and Brazil, and only a weak effect in China. Based on these results, we provide recommendations for business and policy makers who need to anticipate citizens' demand for EVs and design policies suitable to accelerate the adoption of sustainable transport solutions.