Abstract
The adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) by consumers is regarded as a key strategic goal for the reduction in transport-related air pollution levels. Although sales of EVs continue to rise year on year, generally, the attainment of the strategic goals set by various governments for the adoption of EVs remains a distant target. The purpose of this study is to identify the customer profile of early adopters of EVs in Spain: one of Europe’s largest economies, yet the country with the lowest uptake of EVs at present. The analysis presented here is based on an online survey of 404 potential consumers of EVs in Spain. A cluster analysis of the data was performed based on a set of three socio-demographic characteristics (gender, age, and income), one psychographic (green moral obligation—GMO) and two EV attributes (price and driving range). The results of this analysis showed that there exist two segments with respect to higher or lower customer intentions related to the adoption of EVs. These findings represent a theoretical contribution to current understanding of the customer profile of adopters of EVs and will contribute to the development of communication and retail strategies aimed at customers fitting the profile of early adopters of new technologies.
Highlights
In 2019, the UN Climate Change Conference held in Madrid (Spain) called for a prioritisation of energy policies that support a transition towards low-carbon solutions in view of the continued rise in CO2 emissions, which have been linked to global warming [1]
This study has explored different factors to create a customer segmentation of Spanish consumers in terms of their readiness to adopt electric vehicles (EVs)
Based on a review of relevant literature on this topic, and in line with rational choice theory, this study has evaluated the predictive capacity of three socio-demographic characteristics, one psychographic variable, and two vehicle specific attributes
Summary
In 2019, the UN Climate Change Conference held in Madrid (Spain) called for a prioritisation of energy policies that support a transition towards low-carbon solutions in view of the continued rise in CO2 emissions, which have been linked to global warming [1]. In Europe, transport is responsible for approximately one quarter of greenhouse gas emissions and remains the main source of air pollution in cities. Road transport accounted for 70% of these emissions in 2014 [2]. The type of transition required towards more sustainable models of energy consumption implies considerable changes for this sector of the economy. Electric vehicles (EVs) remain at the forefront of new transport technologies with regards to reducing pollution and greenhouse gas emissions [3]. EV refers to battery-operated electric cars (i.e., solely electric vehicles) and plug-in hybrid electric cars (i.e., those that combine an internal combustion engine system with electric propulsion)
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