Evaluation of electric car styling based on analytic hierarchy process and Kansei engineering: A study on mainstream Chinese electric car brands

Abstract

To evaluate the fuzzy and uncertain factors brought by human's emotional sensibilities during the design of new energy vehicle models, a scientific design evaluation method was adopted. This study combines the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Kansei Engineering to assess the design of new energy vehicle models. It uses both objective criteria and subjective user perceptions. First, it quantified the design imagery vocabulary through Kansei Engineering and identified the target imagery vocabulary. Secondly, the AHP method was used to establish a relationship between design features and imagery vocabulary. Thrid, the study created an evaluation index system for design imagery, and adopted the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation matrix to rank the representative vehicles and brands in the Chinese new energy vehicle market. Based on the weight analysis results, the vehicle functionality (whether it is safe and reliable), the elegance of design, and the intricacy of vehicle structure were identified as the top three aspects that affect the impression of new energy vehicles. Therefore, we need to focus on these aspects during the design of new energy vehicles. Additionally, by integrating objective evaluation and emotional analysis results, we assessed the design for each new energy vehicle brand. The results of this study are important for developing the new energy vehicle market.