Willingness to pay for electromobility: An investigation among owners of energy-efficient houses

This paper adds to the body of knowledge about house owners in Germany as potential early adopters of electric cars. With the help of energy efficiency standards for new constructions, interviewees were divided into two groups: owners of energy-efficient houses and owners of conventional houses. Both groups were asked to take part in a choice experiment and to choose between a conventional car, a plug-in hybrid electric car and a battery electric car in different hypothetical choice situations. Results show that facing the situation to replace their present car house owners of both groups tend to choose a larger and more powerful car. Further, there is a tendency within both groups to choose a car with less fuel consumption. The results of the discrete choice experiment indicate that owners of energy-efficient houses have a statistically significant higher willingness to pay for plug-in hybrid electric cars and for battery electric cars with or without a range extender.