Driving the Switch: Promoting the Benefits of Electric Vehicle Usage : Driving the Switch: Promoting the Benefits of Electric Vehicle Usage

Barker, Tom and Svetunkov, Ivan and Mouzas, Stefanos and Dokka Venkata Satyanaraya, Trivikram (2022) Driving the Switch: Promoting the Benefits of Electric Vehicle Usage : Driving the Switch: Promoting the Benefits of Electric Vehicle Usage. Masters thesis, Lancaster University.

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Abstract

Electric Vehicles have an important part to play in reducing carbon emissions. The aim of this research is to, evaluate the adoption of electric vehicles, specifically to investigate the understanding and brand awareness of public chargepoint operators, facilities and services.. This applied study is focussed on the North West of England, in collaboration with the research’s industry partner, Charge My Street. The initial objective of this research was to identify local barriers stopping individuals from making the switch to Electric Vehicles (EV), this was achieved through two online focus groups. As a result of the focus groups, two further objectives were developed: Identify changes that need to be made by public chargepoint operators to encourage prospective Electric Vehicle (EV) drivers to make the switch. And to assess the awareness of prospective and current electric vehicle (EV) drivers regarding services provided by public chargepoint operators (CPO)., these were achieved with an online survey. Each objective was then further examined in the discussion chapter using a combination of academic and contextual literature, as well as data gathered from the focus groups and the survey. Overall the data discovered achieved the objectives of this research, allowing this projects industry partner, Charge My Street, as well as chargepoint operators to understand how to promote and encourage the use of electric vehicles and public charging, to lower carbon emissions in the North West of England. Chapter 1 introduced the thesis, Chapter 2 reviews existing theoretical literature regarding numerous topics such as Consumer Behaviour, Attitudes and Perceptions, Barriers to Entry and Adoption of Innovation in Technology, Social Network Analysis, Prospect Theory, and Brand Awareness as well as providing context regarding the electric vehicle (EV) industry. Chapter 3 discusses the methods needed to carry out the research methods. Chapter 5 presents the findings, which are then critically analysed in Chapter 6. Finally, Chapter 7 summarises the thesis and provides recommendations for further research. Keywords: Electric Vehicles, Technology Adoption, Charge Point Operator, Barriers To Adoption, Consumer Behaviour, Brand Awareness.