Those who are environmentally friendly are more likely to buy electric cars, but are less concerned about emissions

For the study, 1,100 citizens in Germany were surveyed, representing a cross-section of the population. They were given the opportunity to hypothetically choose between three types of electric vehicles and a conventional vehicle, i.e. one powered by petrol or diesel. The vehicles were characterized by various attributes such as purchase price or fuel costs. "With regard to_{CO2 emissions}, in addition to the frequently considered emissions during vehicle use, we also examined the emissions during vehicle production," says Prof. Dr. Andreas Ziegler, Department of Empirical Economic Research. Together with Michaela V. Gerhardt and Elke D. Kanberger, Ziegler has recently published the study as a discussion paper in the MAGKS Joint Discussion Paper Series in Economics.

Surprisingly, environmental attitudes, i.e. environmental awareness and identification with ecologically oriented policies, have no significant impact on the purchase of cars with lower_{CO2 emissions}, both in terms of vehicle use and production, the study concludes. Instead, more environmentally conscious people tend to buy electric vehicles. Obviously, therefore, it is primarily the avoidance of conventional vehicles that is seen as a significant contribution to climate protection.

The purchase of electric vehicles is still very unpopular in Germany overall. According to the empirical results, citizens are on average prepared to spend almost €14,000 more on a conventional vehicle than on a purely electric vehicle, which is identical in terms of the other attributes. Accordingly, subsidies of up to €9,000 at the time of the survey and currently up to €6,750 seem too low to persuade many prospective buyers to switch to electric vehicles. "A strong or even sole focus on subsidies may therefore not be a successful transport, environmental and climate policy strategy to significantly increase the demand for electric and especially pure electric vehicles," say the authors of the study. For the transition to electromobility, it is therefore suggested that "known barriers such as limited charging availability or long charging times" should be addressed in particular. Furthermore, "in the long term, it may be necessary to gradually phase out conventional vehicles with combustion engines."

The study "The relevance of life-cycle CO2 emissions for vehicle purchase decisions: A stated choice experiment for Germany" can be accessed at

https://is.gd/7OEzbA

Contact:
Prof. Dr. Andreas Ziegler
Department of Empirical Economics
Phone: 0561 804-3038
E-mail: andreas.ziegler[at]uni-kassel[dot]de