Heterogeneous preferences for EVs: Evidence from Iran

Abstract

To overcome the environmental side effects of over-utilizing fossil fuels and road traffic emissions, Alternative Fuel Vehicles (AFVs) are alternative power engines. However, as AFVs have not yet penetrated the automotive market in Iran, using the choice experiment model, this study considers the heterogeneous preference for Electric Vehicles (EVs) in four megacities of Iran. Therefore, 1000 respondents are interviewed and are asked to choose their preferred vehicle between hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), battery electric vehicles (BEVs), and internal combustion engine vehicles. Furthermore, this study contributes to the literature by employing the Policoric correlation matrix, not Pearson, to investigate the influence of psychological factors besides the macro, micro, and product factors in adopting Evs. The latent class and mixed logit model reveal the monetary factors negatively affected consumers' willingness to pay for HEVs and BEVs. In contrast, the charging availability and non-monetary policies are positively connected to the acceptance rate of BEVs, While risk-aversion and normative-face perspectives reduce it. Furthermore, the class membership variable shows that the younger tend to purchase HEVs, and high-income groups are the most significant potential buyers of HEVs and BEVs. Therefore, the younger and high-income groups could be considered the target group in Iran's early penetrating EVs.