Fuel type based vehicles choice

The aim of the paper is to analyse the researches performed so far on vehicle choice according to the fuel type. There are different reasons to be interested in this theme. Among the most relevant we recall the following: a. increasing costs of conventional fuel; b. development of new fuel types; c. different fuel efficiency; d. higher productivity standards, due to crisis of car corporations; e. Italy’s car fleet has a 30% of vehicles that are ten years or older and also by a strong preference towards buying gasoline and diesel fuelled vehicles. The paper proposes a critical analysis of vehicle choice analysis based on fuel type (e.g. gasoline/diesel, CNG and hybrid). A significant number of studies are centred on the consumer. As noted by Achtnicht (2008) the choice depends on the person’s age, gender and level of schooling. Other authors have inquired the actual gap between the performance of conventional fuels (diesel/gasoline) and that of alternative fuel (hybrid). The lack of a diffused network of refuelling stations, particularly with reference to the CNG (compressed natural gas), has also been highlighted by Achtnicht, Buhler e Hermeling (2009). Several electrical car market development researches, such as the Salerno’s and Zito’s ones (2004), have stressed its high purchasing price and its maintenance costs. We will consider, for the different studies, the methodologies used by the authors, their specific area of research, the results obtained, the criticalities, and eventually the trends and developments.