E-Mobility Adoption in Companies: The Influence of Range, Infrastructure, and Support Schemes on Adoption Decisions in Mobile Nursing Services in Germany

Abstract

The switch from combustion engine mobility to e-mobility is an important part of the transformation of the transport sector towards more sustainability. While technology- and infrastructure-related challenges have increasingly been solved, companies could play a key role in accelerating the diffusion of electric cars as they are the main adopters of new cars and feed the second-hand car market. Research has shown that more favorable perceptions of contextual aspects such as financial costs, range, and social norms increase the willingness to adopt electric cars in households. To investigate the relevance of several contextual factors for companies, we conducted an explorative study with decision makers in small businesses in Germany. We conducted an online survey containing a discrete choice experiment with N = 99 decision makers of private mobile nursing services. The attributes of the discrete choice experiment were electric car range, a special grant for nursing services, and an infrastructure package providing charging infrastructure and a parking reservation. The results show that all attributes were significant for the adoption decision. However, the effect sizes depend on situational factors of the companies and the framing of the adoption decision. In an additional choice task within the survey, we also investigated the importance of social norms but found insignificant results. The findings provide much-needed insight on companies' adoption decisions and pave the way for future research. Moreover, the results have direct implications for designing policy support schemes to foster electric car diffusion in companies more effectively.

Keywords: electric car adoption, companies, discrete choice experiment, decision makers, range, support schemes