Should I Stay or Should I Go? - Influencing Context Factors for Users’ Decisions to Charge or Refuel Their Vehicles

Abstract

Within the transport sector, the use of electric drives and renewable energies can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, in Germany, sales figures of battery electric vehicles (BEV) are far below the expectation. A major barrier is the current state of the charging infrastructure (CIS), which is not perceived to be in line with the demand of potential users. For the future positioning of charging infrastructure, a comprehensive understanding of the charging decision is required. Therefore, both current e-vehicle users and potential future users must be considered. In the present study, a two-step methodological approach was applied to gain a better understanding of the influence of the concrete driving situation on the decision to refuel or charge. Initially, interviews were conducted (N = 18) to identify possible motivational factors for the decision. Subsequently, an adaptive choice-based conjoint analysis was designed and carried out (N = 235). The remaining range, the current price, the necessary detour, the type and familiarity of the surroundings, the type and phase of trip and the service offered on site were thereby included to determine their relative importance for the refueling or charging decision. The results indicate that the decision triggers are similar for e-vehicle users and combustion engine users. For both user groups, detour, filling level and price are the most important reasons, while the local services and surroundings are the second most important.