Towards a sustainable useof electric vehicles : Final report

A large-scale transition towards electric vehicles would have large environmentalbenefits regarding energy-efficiency and reduced air pollution in urban areas.Nevertheless, the uptake of electric vehicles is still at a low level. The upfrontinvestment cost and the limited range of electric vehicles are important hinderingfactors for electric vehicle adoption. On the other hand, the use of electric vehicles isrelatively cheap. This is mainly due to the fact that electricity is cheaper per kilometerthan petrol or diesel, as well as due to the fact that electric vehicles are more energyefficient.Currently, policy measures are focused on electric vehicle adoption, and inmany countries around the world, policy incentives are provided. However, withthe low marginal cost of electric vehicle use and battery developments resultingin higher range, there is a risk for increased car travels, which would have negativeenvironmental effects and might increase congestion. In this project, this risk forincreased car use is investigated: the conditions under which increased car use islikely to occur and the influence of policy measures and the provision of charginginfrastructure are explored using an interdisciplinary approach. Stated adaptationexperiments are used to investigate the behavioral alterations of car users whenchanging to an electric vehicle. In particular, to combat the negative externalitiesin increased car uses after EV adoption, the study has designed three incentives thataim to reduce private car trips into the already congested city centers. The incentiveswere a combination of 1) free EV parking and charging outside of the congestion area(of Stockholm) and an additional reduced-fare 2) public transport- or 3) e-scooter. Totest the effectiveness of the incentives, the study has designed a stated adaptationexperiment and a custom web map based survey tool that most importantly allowedthe respondents to record desired locations for their incentives, thereby providingan indication of public charging infrastructure demand and “entrance parking”(infartsparkering).400 of the 7000 contacted registered EV users have answered the survey. Theso collected data was analyzed using both descriptive statistics and statistical travelbehavior modelling. While based on the small sample size the modelling resultsshould be treated with caution, the modelling results can be interpreted as follows: The incentives are more effective in deterring female, young (18–24), or parttimeemployed respondents from driving into the city centers than their male,older, or full-time employed counterparts. The offer of free parking and charging can “attract” respondents who arecurrently not parking in the congestion zone or have a difficult time findingparking spot in the congestion zone. Conversely, those who already haveconfidence in parking opportunities are harder to sway toward leaving thecar outside the city center. Respondents who are regular public transport users (i.e., are holders of amonthly public transport Independent of their public transportation enjoyment level, respondentswho have higher perceived safety in public transportation are more likely ofchoosing an offer of a reduced-fare public transport compared to those whohave lower perceived safety levels. Respondents who “strongly” enjoy the use of e-scooters and e-bicycles aremore likely to take an offer a reduced fare for this mode of transport since thisincentive increases their opportunities to use these “enjoyed” modes. While an initially planned detailed stakeholder analysis could not be carried outduring the project period, based on the above results the study outlined severalmethodologies for stakeholder analysis and policy roadmap creation. Moreover,the above knowledge gained from the travel behavior modelling work is believedto be useful input for ongoing and future policy work towards sustainable electricvehicle use