Renewable energy needed to drive uptake of electric vehicles

Plugging into renewable energy sources is the top reason people consider before buying an electric vehicle, according to a new study.

Queensland University of Technology postdoctoral research fellow Dr Kenan Degirmenci, from QUT Business School, says environmental performance – or being green – outweighs even price or range confidence for electric vehicle consumers.

Those conclusions are drawn from his newly published study titled Consumer purchase intentions for electric vehicles: Is green more important than price and range?

“High purchase costs and short driving ranges have been considered to be the main factors which impede people’s decision to buy electric vehicles,” he says.

“We found the majority of participants placed great emphasis on the need for electricity for electric vehicles to be produced from renewable energy sources in order for them to be a true alternative.”

The study involved interviews with 40 consumers and a survey with 167 people who participated in test drives with plug-in battery electric vehicles in Germany.

Degirmenci says the results of the study are relevant to Australia because the transport sector accounts for 16% of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions and 85% of these were generated by road transport.

“In this regard, a transition from conventional combustion vehicles to electric vehicles has the potential to reduce Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions substantially, if that electricity is produced from renewable energy sources.”