Individual characteristics and stated preferences for alternative energy sources and propulsion technologies in vehicles: A discrete choice analysis for Germany

With respect to the German goal of a transition to a lead market for electromobility within a short time period, this paper empirically examines the preferences for alternative energy sources or propulsion technologies in vehicles and particularly for electric vehicles. The data stem from a stated preference discrete choice experiment with 598 potential German car buyers. In order to simulate a realistic future purchase situation, seven vehicle types were incorporated in each of the six choice sets, i.e. hybrid, gas, biofuel, hydrogen, and electric vehicles besides common gasoline and diesel vehicles. The econometric analysis with flexible multinomial probit models reveals that potential car buyers in Germany currently have a low stated preference for electric, hydrogen, and hybrid vehicles. While our paper also discusses the impact of common vehicle attributes such as purchase price or service station availability, it particularly considers the effect of socio-demographic and environmental awareness variables. The estimation results reveal that younger potential car buyers have a higher stated preference for hydrogen and electric vehicles, males have a higher stated choice of hydrogen vehicles, and environmentally aware potential car buyers have a higher stated preference for hydrogen and electric vehicles. These results suggest that common policy instruments such as the promotion of research and development, taxation, or subsidization in the field of electromobility could be supplemented by strategies to increase the social acceptance of alternative vehicle types that are directly oriented to these population groups. Methodologically, our study highlights the importance of the inclusion of taste persistence across the choice sets and a high number of random draws in the Geweke–Hajivassiliou–Keane simulator in the simulated maximum likelihood estimation of the multinomial probit models.