Christina Gore presenting her research at a conference in Pennsylvania.

Environmentalism Drives Electric Vehicle Adoption, Study Shows

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June 18, 2020

By: Meredith Oglesby 

Doctoral student Christina Gore has always had an interest in sustainable technology, so she’s conducting research to explore whether environmental benefits influence the decisions people make surrounding the adoption of battery electric vehicles (BEVs).

Gore, who is majoring in agricultural, environmental and development economics, used a survey where individuals in three regions, Los Angeles; Atlanta; and the combination of Cincinnati, Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio, answered questions to indicate which vehicle they would purchase — conventional, hybrid or BEV — based on different scenarios. The scenarios included variations of purchase prices, annual fuel costs and emissions attributes. Gore conducted the survey using grant money provided by the Sustainability Institute at Ohio State. 

While BEVs do not produce tailpipe emissions, carbon emissions for the overall life cycle of BEVs are determined by the energy resources and production methods used to generate electricity, such as burning fossil fuels, using renewable sources or utilizing nuclear power plants. These emissions vary depending on the region where the vehicle charges. For example, operating a BEV in an area where the electricity used to charge the vehicle is generated by burning coal produces more emissions over its life cycle than operating a gasoline vehicle with a high fuel economy would, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

Gore wanted to investigate whether people would change decisions based on circumstances where the hybrid vehicle is the most emissions-reducing option.

“If you live in Kentucky, West Virginia or Ohio — a more coal dependent region — the emissions from a BEV are much higher than in locations such as California, Washington and Oregon, where they use more renewable energy as part of their electric production mix,” Gore says. 

Gore’s research found people are willing to pay more to adopt BEVs due to the emissions-reducing potential, showing that the energy production mix does impact a consumer’s decision about BEV adoption. 

“Essentially it's showing that one of the main drivers of BEV adoption is environmentalism,” Gore says. 

Electric vehicles provide a range of benefits, with the reduction in carbon emissions being the largest. As carbon emissions decrease, there are also human health benefits and less pollution. Some people are also interested in having the highest technology option, so the electric vehicles spark their attention. 

“In order to understand how electric vehicles will shape society, we first need to understand the underlying human behavioral decision making that surrounds electric vehicles and what some of the big barriers are to adoption,” Gore says. 

The price tag on these vehicles is still quite high and continues to be a challenge for BEV adoption. According to Gore’s research, people also realize, due to the energy production mixes, the BEV isn’t necessarily the best carbon emissions reducing option. 

In addition to uncovering factors that influence BEV adoption decisions, Gore’s findings have the potential to help understand costs and benefits of power generation investments, better predict future BEV adoption rates at a regional level and influence policy decisions.

In the future, Gore explains, she would like to explore how individuals’ decisions in rural areas differ from those in urban areas. She is also interested in researching the demand or interest for different types of electric vehicles. Gore plans to publish the current research findings by December. 

“This is one sustainable technology that has the ability to change the world and how we essentially do everything,” Gore says. “I think now is a good time to study electric vehicles, because we're really at the cusp of electric vehicles becoming much more mainstream.” 

Meredith Oglesby is a communication assistant at the Sustainability Institute.