Impact of innovative business models on electric vehicle adoption

Successful market penetration of electric vehicles may not only rely on the characteristics of the technology but also on the business models available on the market. This has been largely ignored in previous studies. The aim of this study therefore is to assess and quantify the impact of innovative business models on Electric Vehicle (EV) adoption. In particular, the authors look at leasing and mobility guarantee. The authors designed a stated choice experiment to disentangle the effect of business models from other factors and estimated several choice models. According to the results, leasing is the most preferred option for people who choose EV, while adopters of conventional cars (CV) and plug-in hybrids (PHEV) are more likely to stick with buying. Attitudes towards leasing are significantly associated with the choice of business models. However, most of those who choose EV leasing were going to adopt EV even when leasing was not possible. Furthermore, leasing doesn’t have a significant effect in attracting people who initially chose CV and PHEV. Mobility guarantee is found to have a significant albeit small positive effect on electric vehicle utility. The results suggest that the business models the authors tested may not be sufficient to compensate for the perceived weaknesses of EV and make a substantial difference in promoting EV sales. In order to further explore the potential of business models, more studies are needed to identify a more effective pricing scheme and other more promising business models.