Impact of Service Station Networks on Purchase Decisions of Alternative-Fuel Vehicles

25 Pages Posted: 11 Nov 2008 Last revised: 22 Mar 2015

See all articles by Claudia Hermeling

Claudia Hermeling

ZEW – Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research

Georg Buhler

ZEW – Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research

Martin Achtnicht

Leibniz Institute of Urban and Regional Development; ZEW – Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research

Date Written: 2008

Abstract

In this paper we analyze the impact of service station availability on the demand for alternative-fuel vehicles and the consumers' willingness to pay for an enlarged fueling infrastructure. We examine a stated preferences choice experiment conducted as a CAPI survey with about 600 interviews of potential car buyers in Germany and estimate the coefficients of a discrete choice model. We simulate different scenarios and analyze how individual choice probabilities for alternative fuel-types are changing with a modified fueling infrastructure. In our scenarios hybrids, LPG/CNG and hydrogen will be real alternatives to the existing conventional technologies. However, biofuels and electric power trains are well behind even in a situation where their infrastructure is equally developed. Moreover, on the basis of our model we compute what increases in fixed or variable costs consumers of different income groups are willing to accept for an increasing station density.

Keywords: Fueling Infrastructure, Alternative Fuels, Automobile Market, Stated Preferences, Discrete Choice, Network Effects

JEL Classification: C51, L62, R41

Suggested Citation

Hermeling, Claudia and Buhler, Georg and Achtnicht, Martin, Impact of Service Station Networks on Purchase Decisions of Alternative-Fuel Vehicles (2008). ZEW - Centre for European Economic Research Discussion Paper No. 08-088, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1298937 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1298937

Claudia Hermeling

ZEW – Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research ( email )

P.O. Box 10 34 43
L 7,1
D-68034 Mannheim, 68034
Germany

Georg Buhler

ZEW – Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research ( email )

P.O. Box 10 34 43
L 7,1
D-68034 Mannheim, 68034
Germany

Martin Achtnicht (Contact Author)

Leibniz Institute of Urban and Regional Development ( email )

Weberplatz 1
Dresden, 01217
Germany

ZEW – Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research ( email )

P.O. Box 10 34 43
L 7,1
D-68034 Mannheim, 68034
Germany

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