• Energy Research

Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) can help decarbonize road transport in urban India. To accelerate the diffusion of PHEVs, investigation of commuter preferences towards the attributes of PHEVs is necessary. Therefore, the present study analyzes prospective owners’ choice decisions towards PHEVs in a typical Indian context. A stated preference survey was designed to collect responses from the current owners of conventional vehicles (CVs) in Delhi, India, and Mixed Logit (ML) models were developed to estimate commuters’ Willingness To Pay (WTP) for a set of key PHEV-specific attributes. The decomposition effect of prospective owners’ sociodemographic characteristics and trip characteristics on the mean estimates of random parameters was investigated by developing ML models with heterogeneity. Subsequently, the influence of improvement of each PHEV-specific attribute on prospective owners’ choice probability was investigated by calculating marginal effects. Among the various PHEV-specific attributes considered in the present study, high WTPs are observed for decrease in battery recharging time, reduction in tailpipe emission and increase in electric range. Therefore, an added emphasis on these attributes by vehicle manufacturers is likely to enhance the attractiveness of PHEVs to Indian commuters. The results also highlight the importance of government subsidy for promoting PHEVs in the Indian market. Prospective owners’ income, availability of home-based parking space, and average daily trip length are found to significantly influence the choice decision of Indian commuters towards PHEVs.

Abstract This paper reports an investigation to assess consumer preferences towards Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) in a typical Indian context. A stated preference survey was designed to collect choice responses from current owners of conventional vehicles (CVs) in two Indian megacities namely Delhi and Kolkata. The data collected from the two cities were analyzed in two stages by developing Mixed Logit (ML) models. In the first stage, consumers’ perceived benefit towards PHEV-related attributes were estimated in terms of Willingness to Pay (WTP) values. In the second stage, the potential demand shift from CV to PHEV was estimated by developing demand models. The results indicate the need for an added emphasis on PHEV-specific attributes such as charging time and battery warranty and attribute for general vehicle use such as advance vehicle technology (AVT) option by vehicle manufacturers to make PHEV attractive to consumers in Indian megacities. High purchase price is identified as a major bottleneck for the penetration of PHEV in Indian market. Policy interventions from government in terms of higher subsidy, availability of public charging infrastructure, and environmental education and awareness among consumers are necessary to effectively promote PHEV in Indian context.