How to promote electromobility for European car drivers? Obstacles to overcome for a broad market penetration

3.1 Framework of the consumer survey

The conducted survey took place throughout the European Union (EU 28). For research efficiency reasons, it was conducted online and focused on the most populated countries Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Poland, Romania, the Netherlands, Greece, Belgium, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Sweden, Austria, and Bulgaria. Finland, as one of the three partner countries of the project consortium, was also included. In each of the three focus countries (Germany, Finland, and Poland) a minimum of 1,000 interviews were conducted, 3,000 interviews in the other 14 countries. The total number of interviews carried out in the EU was 6,025. Target group of the survey were potential buyers and users of cars respectively. Only holders of a driving license were selected for the online survey. Respondents of the defined target group within the selected countries were sampled and contacted by a commercial online panel where potential respondents are registered. For each of the selected countries a sample was drawn aiming to represent the countries driving licence holders. The questionnaire was translated for each selected country. Therefore, each respondent was approached in his or her national language.

Aim of the survey was to learn about the customer perspective regarding electric cars. Of course it is difficult to convert answers from a questionnaire into a prognosis. Therefore, the questionnaire focused on the awareness, image and assessment of electric cars from various perspectives to reveal general patterns.

To obtain a balanced result for all surveyed countries - regardless of the disproportional sampling - weighting was applied referring to the number of inhabitants within each country. Additionally, available structural data of driving license holders (by age and gender) from Germany, Finland, and Poland were applied in the weighting procedure. The weighting procedure within the countries refers to socio-demographic data only as there is no data available for the regional distribution of driving licence holders within the countries.

Online samples provide reliable data for countries and selected target groups when the Internet accessibility within the surveyed population is high and all groups within the surveyed population have access to the Internet and, therefore, all groups have the possibility to be included in the survey. In most EU countries the majority of the inhabitants can access the Internet. Especially in the three focus countries Germany, Poland, and Finland, the majority of the population is using Internet services at least every now and then [8]. This is true especially for Finland and, on a lower level, for Poland. For that reason this approach was chosen for the realisation of the consumer survey.

Since Internet accessibility is comparatively low in some of the surveyed countries, especially in Romania and Bulgaria, and probably not evenly distributed throughout the countries’ inhabitants, an online sample is not representative for the inhabitants of the country. The sample is biased with regard to rather young inhabitants with a rather higher level of education and rather higher incomes. Nevertheless, these characteristics describe the potential target group for buying a new car. All analyses presented in this article are based on the results of the European level.

3.2 Awareness and attitudes towards electric cars

Petrol and diesel are the most common and also the most known energy sources for cars (see Fig. 1). The majority of respondents is also aware of electric and hybrid drives. This is especially remarkable as cars with these drives are rare on the streets. In 2012 only 109 electric cars were registered in Finland, 34 in Poland and 7,114 in Germany. This corresponds to a share of less than one percent of all registered cars within these countries [9]. Respondents are less aware of the more common LPG powered cars than of electric and hybrid cars. The high level of awareness is a good base for a market diffusion of electric drives within the EU.

Beside the respondents’ awareness, their indicated expectations towards the diffusion of electric cars are high. The following Fig. 2 presents the respondents assessment of several statements concerning electric cars. For a first interpretation a vertical line is drawn between the share of respondents that (strongly) agree to the statement and those that (strongly) disagree or are rather undecided. This presentation helps to identify the share of respondents’ consent.

Two thirds think that public charging stations should be available everywhere within the next 5 years (see Fig. 2). The majority of respondents is confident that electric vehicles are as safe as conventional cars. Only 7 % expressed to have safety concerns.

Despite of the high awareness level, the respondents are not fully informed about the costs of electric cars. One observable and commonly registered aspect is the high purchase price level of electric vehicles. An aspect which is all too often overlooked is the difference in operating costs of electric cars compared to conventional drives. This is also reflected in the consumer survey results, where only 36 % think that electric vehicles have lower operating costs compared to conventional cars. This is especially true for respondents living in EU countries with lower costs for electricity. For instance, only 26 % of the French respondents agree to this statement although the electricity prices in France are below the average European level. This identifies an information deficit as a potential obstacle for a broad market penetration of electric vehicles.

The results also show that a majority of the European consumers adopt a wait-and-see policy in matters of new technologies: experience, knowledge and trust are important in purchase decisions. However, there are differences in the analysed countries. Whereas a majority of German consumers adopt the aforementioned wait-and-see policy in matters of new technologies (54 %), Polish customers are more innovative since only 39 % of the Polish respondents agree with the corresponding statement.

Consumers are critical about the environmental benefits of electric cars. About every fourth agrees to the statement that electric cars will not help to solve environmental problems. This is realistic with regard to the currently used electricity mix in most EU countries. Only electricity produced from renewable sources is suitable to reduce carbon emissions. Nevertheless, the potential of electric cars to reduce (local) air pollution is recognised by two thirds of the consumers.

The stated attitudes are similar for male and female as well as for younger and older consumers. Not any consumer segment is particularly open minded or particularly anxious about electric drives. Electric cars seem to be perceived as improved or refined versions of already well known vehicles.

3.3 Preferred cars

Mid-size cars head the ranking of preferred car segments for everyday life; small cars are second, the percentage of light vehicles is negligible (see Fig. 3).

All in all, it illustrates that customers clearly prefer mid-size cars. This might refer to a preference for flexibility and all round cars. Mid-size cars are functional in cities due to their size and limited fuel consumption, but are convenient enough for long distances as well. In comparison, big cars, e. g., SUVs (Sports Utility Vehicle), as well as light vehicles are not that popular.

When it comes to choosing a new or used car, low fuel consumption is the most important aspect for consumers (see Fig. 4). The vertical line in Fig. 4 - dividing respondents’ answers of those (strongly) agreeing to the statement from those (strongly) disagreeing or being undecided towards the statement - helps to identify respondents consent again. The share of agreement to the other statements indicates that the importance of low fuel consumption has to be understood against the backdrop of price rather than environmental issues. Comfort and low price are crucial for the respondents’ purchase decision. Almost half of the respondents are willing to choose a smaller car for environmental reasons anyway. Especially women are more often prepared to do so. Respondents living in bigger households are more reluctant when it comes to smaller cars since a smaller car might restrict flexibility for everyday life.

About one third of all consumers would drive an electric car rather than a car with combustion engine. The rejection of electric cars by one fifth, again, probably reflects the concern that electric cars are costly. About half of the respondents are indecisive with this statement. This group might be attracted by more information and suitable cars. There are no particular groups of consumers preferring electric drives over combustion engines. This reinforces the assumption that when it comes to the purchase decision, the car’s drive is only one relevant feature among others. This provides a good basis for a later broader market penetration of electric drives beyond the group of early adopters.

Asked to choose between different offers of a car within their preferred car segment with equal features but differences in price and carbon emission (see Fig. 5), most respondents go for the cheapest model with the highest emissions or the model with average emissions for an average price, respectively. But there is also a group of consumers choosing a car with lower emissions and accepting higher asset costs for the car. This is about one fifth throughout the EU.

3.4 Summary of demand obstacle analysis

The results show, that consumers are generally aware of electric cars and rather open minded towards them. But the results also display that consumers prefer low cost and all-purpose cars. Electric cars offered in the EU are limited compared to conventional cars when it comes to repowering stations, range, and comfort. Since batteries are rather expensive, electric cars are more expensive to purchase than conventional cars and offer a smaller variety of models. Furthermore, if the consumer has to choose between higher prices and CO₂-emissions, most of the respondents would prefer a lower price and higher emissions. Only a small group is willing to pay a double price in order to have a car with zero CO₂-emissions. All these aspects lead to a mismatch of supply, consumer expectations, and demand.