Abstract
PurposeAny attempt of the government to encourage the purchase of vehicles on alternative fuels and drive trains will depend on the acceptance of the end-users on the demand side. This paper offers an in-depth understanding of the consumers’ attitudes and preferences towards AFVs which can guide the government to establish effective policy measures.MethodA comprehensive review of research is performed under different conceptual frameworks and research methodologies: attitudinal, experimental, preference valuation studies and others. Research findings are reported with the general objective to (1) uncover the attitudes and preferences towards AFVs and (2) examine whether the environmental benefits of AFVs play a role in the car purchase decision.ResultsOverall, there exists a strong environmental concern, and positive attitudes towards AFVs. However, environmental benefits are of little importance in the car purchase decision, which is principally driven by price characteristics, performance and convenience attributes. Limited knowledge levels also seem to prevent building up awareness of AFVs, which is the key to their adoption.ConclusionsThe adoption of AFVs is likely to be limited without significant governmental incentives and regulations. Based on the key findings, it can be recommended that a combination of educational campaigns (e.g., information tools), pricing measures (e.g., differentiated vehicle taxation), supply-sided measures and large-scale demonstrations is required to support the adoption of AFVs.
Highlights
Two important factors have caused major evolutions and developments in the transportation and automotive sector and have stimulated the use of new technologies for our transportation models: the availability of energy sources and the important adverse effects of transportation systems on the environment [93]
Vehicles on alternative fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), compressed natural gas (CNG), biofuels and hydrogen and drive trains such as electric vehicles (EVs), hybrid electric vehicles ((P)HEVs) and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (HFCVs) offer an attractive solution to reduce the environmental impact of the vehicle fleet [48]
This paper reviewed 53 publications according to the applied conceptual framework and research methodology
Summary
Two important factors have caused major evolutions and developments in the transportation and automotive sector and have stimulated the use of new technologies for our transportation models: the availability of energy sources and the important adverse effects of transportation systems on the environment [93]. The finite nature of oil resources and the associated political and economic effects presently lead to the need of assessing alternative energy sources and to reduce the dependence on imported oil. In addition to these energy aspects, the transportation sector is responsible for a substantial part of pollutant emissions in the atmosphere, which are directly and indirectly impacting different receptors such as people, material, agriculture, climate and ecosystems [92]. To reduce the harmful emissions and to make the use of finite energy sources more efficient, effective policy measures need to be installed by the relevant authorities. Vehicles on alternative fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), compressed natural gas (CNG), biofuels and hydrogen and drive trains such as electric vehicles (EVs), (plug-in) hybrid electric vehicles ((P)HEVs) and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (HFCVs) offer an attractive solution to reduce the environmental impact of the vehicle fleet [48]
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