The Market for Electric Vehicles – What Do Potential Users Want

This paper investigates some of the factors that influence the potential mass introduction of electric vehicles. The main contribution of the paper is an analysis of how recharging influences the demand. We do this by a joint analysis that includes estimation of a model predicting demand for electric vehicles based upon price, driving range, acceleration, and accessibility to recharging, an in depth analysis of the drivers’ need for recharging based on their observed driving patterns found in the National Travel Survey and a GSP based recording of driving behaviour of a sample of drivers in Copenhagen. The final part of the investigation shows that this accessibility to recharging may be one of the most important factors for decision makers to focus on if electric vehicles are expected in larger numbers, but the analysis also shows that this may not be the most important factor when socioeconomic assessments are carried out. The socio-economic assessment shows that the revenue impacts for the government as well as the price of the car and the electricity consumption are still key issues in this aspect.