Understanding charging behaviour of electric vehicle users

Abstract

We examined the psychological dynamics underlying charging behaviour of electric vehicle (EV) users. Data from 79 EV users were assessed in a 6-month EV field study. On average, users charged their EV three times per week, drove 38km per day, and they typically had a large surplus of energy remaining upon recharging. Based on first findings concerning charging style among mobile phone users, we hypothesized that user–battery interaction style (UBIS) is a relevant variable for understanding charging behaviour of EV users. We developed measures to assess UBIS. Results show that it is a relatively temporally stable characteristic which also shows some cross-device consistency. As predicted by our conceptual model, UBIS and comfortable range explain the charge level at which people typically recharged. UBIS was related to users’ confidence in their mental model of range dynamics, the utilization of range, and to excess energy from renewable sources. This research has implications for optimizing sustainability of electric mobility systems.