Features influencing policy recommendations for the promotion of zero-emission vehicles in Slovenia, Spain, and Poland.

ABSTRACT

To make society more sustainable, cleaner transportation technologies, such as zero-emission vehicles and sustainable mobility, are being investigated, promoted, and supported by different policy measures. The emphasis of this paper is determining the zero-emission vehicle features that can influence specific policy recommendations; this understanding can boost zero-emission vehicle use as a potential cleaner transportation technology among different consumer segments in different EU member states. A customer-oriented study of over 1500 Slovenians, Spaniards, and Poles revealed the most relevant zero-emission vehicle-purchasing features are: (a) vehicle price and (b) fuel economy. The percentage of potential zero-emission vehicle buyers is said to rise to 80% should the price of electric cars decrease and fuel price increase accordingly, i.e. by 30% and 50%, respectively. Concerning the car price, Slovenian and Polish consumers' preferences are similar, and 40% of them (and up to 85% of Spaniards) would consider buying one if the price drops by 25%. Women in all three studied countries are more interested in zero-emission vehicles than men are. Different policies should be used in Poland, where people are not as interested in zero-emission vehicles as Spanish and Slovenian consumers are. Customer segmentation in all three groups pointed out that Poland has the highest share (19%) of "No-green" consumers, whereas Spain has the highest share (60%) of "Go-green" consumers, i.e. consumers who would consider buying a zero-emission vehicle in the foreseeable future.