Research on the Influence Mechanism of Consumers’ Purchase Intention of Electric Vehicles Based on Perceived Endorsement: A Case Study of Chinese Electric Vehicle Start-Ups

During the last decade, a number of electric vehicle start-ups have emerged in China. Although there have been quite a lot of studies on consumers’ purchase decision of electric vehicles, it is not common in the case of electric vehicle start-ups. This paper puts forward the concept of perceived endorsement and discusses the relationship among perceived benefit, perceived risk, range anxiety, attitude and consumers’ purchase intention and establishes a theoretical model of consumers’ purchase intention towards electric vehicles from start-ups. A structural equation model was used to test the research model and the hypotheses of the model. The results indicate that perceived endorsement has a significant positive influence on perceived benefit and attitude, which then affects consumers’ purchase intention, but range anxiety and perceived risk have no impact on purchase intention.

Battery Swapping Station

State-of-the-art research to solve the grid congestion due to EVs is focused on smart charging and using (centralized, de-centralized, vehicle-to-grid) stationery energy storage as a buffer between times of peak and off-peak demand. On the other hand, the charging of EVs introduces new challenges and opportunities. This can prove to be beneficial for the EV aggregator as well as to consumers, regarding the economy. Also, EV as distributed storage makes the grid more steady, secure, and resilient by regulating frequency and the spinning reserve as backup power. However, the charging time and range anxiety lead to peak challenges for the use of EVs. In this chapter battery swapping station (BSS) as solution to the EV charging station is discussed.

Psilocybin microdosing does not affect emotion-related symptoms and processing: A preregistered field and lab-based study

Background: Microdoses of psychedelics (i.e. a sub-hallucinogenic dose taken every third day) can reduce symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress according to anecdotal reports and observational studies. Research with medium to high doses of psilocybin points towards potential underlying mechanisms, including the modulation of emotion and interoceptive processing. Aims: In this preregistered study, we investigated whether psilocybin microdoses alter self-reported interoceptive awareness and whether repeated microdosing over 3 weeks modulates emotion processing and reduces symptoms of anxiety and depression. Methods: We used a double-blind, placebo-controlled, within-subject crossover design. Participants completed the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness Questionnaire 1½ h after self-administering their second dose (or placebo), and the emotional go/no-go task and the shortened Depression Anxiety Stress Scale 1½ h after self-administering their seventh dose. Results: Our confirmatory analyses revealed that psilocybin microdosing did not affect emotion processing or symptoms of anxiety and depression compared with placebo. Our exploratory analyses revealed that psilocybin microdosing did not affect self-reported interoceptive awareness, that symptoms of depression and stress were significantly reduced in the first block compared with baseline, that participants broke blind in the second block and that there was no effect of expectations. Further research in a substance-naïve population with clinical range anxiety and depressive symptoms is needed to substantiate the potential beneficial effects of microdosing.

THE IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC-FUNDED CHARGING STATIONS TO INCREASE THE RATE OF ELECTRIC VEHICLE (EV) OWNERSHIP IN INDONESIA

The current surplus of electricity across Indonesia has further underlined many opportunities to optimize the usage of electricity in many sectors; including on the issue of Electric Vehicle (EV) ownership within the country. According to the government’s projection, the state-owned enterprise (SOE) of PLN would construct 254.181 units of charging stations by 2030. However, there exists the problem of ‘chicken and egg’; in which more EV charging stations would be required to spur EV sales and vice versa. In addition to that, the lack of charging stations has also led to the disinterest from the public to purchase EVs due to fear of range anxiety. Hence, this paper is written to address the importance of publicly funded charging stations in Indonesia to help cultivate EV development within the country. Not only that, since Indonesia is the largest member country of ASEAN, it could be the ‘trendsetter’ of this issue in the region and would have the upper hand position as an early adopter. Our hypotheses suggest that not only publicly funded the development of charging stations would be beneficial to the future-buyer of EV, but also for the government itself. Keywords: Electric Vehicle, Charging Station, Public-Funded, Range Anxiety

A Multiclass Cumulative Prospect Theory-Based Stochastic User Equilibrium Model with Path Constraints in Degradable Transport Networks

The limited driving range and the unavailability or insufficiency of battery charging/swapping stations cause the so-called range anxiety issue for traffic assignment involving battery electric vehicle (BEV) users. In addition, expected utility theory-based stochastic user equilibrium (EUT-SUE) model generates the perfectly rational issue when the travellers make route choice decisions. To tackle these two problems, this article improves the cumulative prospect theory-based stochastic user equilibrium (CPT-SUE) model in a degradable transport network through incorporating the constraints of multiple user classes and distance limit. In this degradable network, the travellers experience stochastic travel times due to network link capacity degradations. For this improved CPT-SUE model, the equivalent variational inequality (VI) model and associated method of successive averages (MSA) based solution are provided. The improved CPT-SUE model is tested and compared with the EUT-SUE model with distance limit, with results showing that the improved CPT-SUE model can handle jointly the range anxiety issue and the perfectly rational issue.

Evaluating the Barrier Effects of Charge Point Trauma on UK Electric Vehicle Growth

For electric vehicles (EVs) to realise the UK government’s goal of mass-market dominance, there are surmountable hurdles to resolve before car users accept this radical shift in motoring technology. This study focuses on recent EV adopters who experience a new phenomenon described as charge point trauma (CPT). In contrast to range anxiety, we define CPT as the psychological, physiological, and behavioural condition where EV user’s experiences develop trauma or anxiety in response to the availability of sufficient charge points, locations, payment processes, and operability. Resolving impediments to EV usage reduces long-term growth barriers, which we argue can subsequently lower or even eliminate EV driver anxiety. We conclude that range anxiety still plays a major part in overall EV driver trauma, and after deep analysis of our case study data conclude that a trauma other than range anxiety exists at the charge point. To mitigate this phenomenon, we propose a regulatory framework comprising a series of stimuli to encourage EV uptake. These recommendations should be targeted at regulating a new generation of EV charging stations to meet operational parity with current fossil fuel filling stations by ensuring they are always on, available in sufficient numbers, accessible and operable as part of the UK motorway and major trunk network. This will de-risk EV purchasing and stimulate their adoption in this embryonic stage, reducing CPT in the process.

Studying Battery Range and Range Anxiety for Electric Vehicles based on Real Travel Demands

Determination of appropriate battery ranges is critical for developing and utilizing electric cars, which remains an active research topic. In particular, the issues of range anxiety have not been well studied concerning the battery design. Towards these research gaps, this study firstly investigates the baseline battery ranges based on the actual travel data collected from a large-scale longitudinal naturalistic driving study in the Midwestern USA. The occurrences and severity levels of range anxiety are then studied given the baseline, which leads to an augmented optimization model to eliminate such issues. Results show that in the baseline model, 60% of drivers can replace their gas cars entirely with 400-mile battery ranges, and less than 40% can do so with 200-mile battery ranges. Even when all the travel needs are satisfied, the optimal battery ranges can still cause range anxiety issues for all the drivers. An additional 25 miles of battery range can help solve the problem based on the improved optimization results.

A Systematic Review of Technologies, Control Methods, and Optimization for Extended-Range Electric Vehicles

For smart cities using clean energy, optimal energy management has made the development of electric vehicles more popular. However, the fear of range anxiety—that a vehicle has insufficient range to reach its destination—is slowing down the adoption of EVs. The integration of an auxiliary power unit (APU) can extend the range of a vehicle, making them more attractive to consumers. The increased interest in optimizing electric vehicles is generating research around range extenders. These days, many systems and configurations of extended-range electric vehicles (EREVs) have been proposed to recover energy. However, it is necessary to summarize all those efforts made by researchers and industry to find the optimal solution regarding range extenders. This paper analyzes the most relevant technologies that recover energy, the current topologies and configurations of EREVs, and the state-of-the-art in control methods used to manage energy. The analysis presented mainly focuses on finding maximum fuel economy, reducing emissions, minimizing the system’s costs, and providing optimal driving performance. Our summary and evaluation of range extenders for electric vehicles seeks to guide researchers and automakers to generate new topologies and configurations for EVs with optimized range, improved functionality, and low emissions.

A behavioral intervention to reduce range anxiety and increase electric vehicle uptake

Electric vehicles are on the rise, but are still far from reaching the global market share required to achieve climate objectives. While financial and technological adoption barriers are increasingly removed, psychological barriers remain insufficiently addressed on a large scale. Here, we show that car owners substantially underestimate the compatibility of available battery capacities with their individual mobility needs, increasing the demand of long battery ranges and reducing willingness to adopt. We test a simple behavioral intervention in two randomized online experiments in Germany and the U.S.: providing tailored compatibility information reduced range anxiety and increased willingness to pay for electric vehicles. Compatibility information more strongly increased preferences than information about privileged access to charging infrastructure, and selectively increased preferences of car owners for whom an electric vehicle would yield higher financial benefits. This scalable intervention may complement classical policy approaches in achieving a resource-conscious and global electrification of mobility.