Are people willing to support the construction of charging facilities in China?

• Published in: Energy policy Vol. 143; p. 111604
• Main Authors: Tan, Ruipeng, Lin, Boqiang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01.08.2020; Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: Air quality; Attitudes; attitudes and opinions; Charging; Charging facilities; China; cities; Energy; energy costs; Energy policy; income; Interviews; men; New energy vehicles; Policy making; Polls & surveys; Public opinion; Public's perception; Random survey; Subsidies; surveys; Vehicles; Willingness to pay; China; Public's perception; Random survey; New energy vehicles; Charging facilities
• ISSN: 0301-4215; 1873-6777
• DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2020.111604

Under the background of removing the subsidies for the new energy vehicles step by step and increasing the subsidies for the charging facilities in China, getting a comprehensive understanding on public's perception and attitudes towards new energy vehicles and charging facilities is significant to the policymakers. To fulfil these goals, we design and perform a random survey in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, the four first-tier cities in China from July 2019 to December 2019. In the survey, we not only investigate the public's attitudes to new energy vehicles but also ask the willingness to pay (WTP) for the use of charging facilities. We find that those persons who are male, younger or having higher family monthly income are willing to pay more for the use of charging facilities. If the interviewee has better knowledge about the new energy vehicles or considers that the new energy vehicles can improve the air quality, he/she also would like to pay more. Finally, the WTP for the charging facilities is estimated to be 0.836 yuan/kWh extra and WTP for different group of interviewees is also analyzed. Therefore, in the initial development of charging facilities, subsidies are necessary but they should be removed later. •Public perception towards charging facilities is investigated.•People's willingness to pay for charging facilities is measured.•Policy implications to promote charging facilities are proposed.