IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v292y2024ics0360544224002019.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Mental models guide electric vehicle charging

Author

Listed:
  • Sprei, Frances
  • Kempton, Willett

Abstract

To discover conceptual and behavioral barriers to electric vehicle (EV) charging, in-depth interviews were conducted in person with experienced and novice EV users. Mental models were found to affect vehicle charging strategies. Novice EV users drew from their existing mental models for petrol refueling and misapplied them to EV charging. Most experienced users had developed new mental models appropriate for the physical and temporal realities of EV charging—they are adapted to diverse rates of charge, EVs' longer energy filling duration, co-location of EV charging with certain user activities, and EVs drivers’ shorter equipment engagement time. Three predominant mental models for EV charging were found: 1. Monitor the fuel gauge, when low, seek a refill location (from liquid-fueling model), 2. Prior to a trip, plan where and when to charge, 3. Event-triggered charging (unique to the EV mental model). Misapplication of liquid fuel models to EVs has detrimental effects: more effort and more frequent anxiety regarding recharging, buyer choice of EV characteristics mismatched to need, manufacturer oversizing of batteries, policy overemphasis on fast public charging, and restricted opportunity to reduce load on the grid. Solutions are suggested to forestall or minimize these detrimental effects and facilitate EV adoption.

Suggested Citation

  • Sprei, Frances & Kempton, Willett, 2024. "Mental models guide electric vehicle charging," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 292(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:292:y:2024:i:c:s0360544224002019
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2024.130430
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544224002019
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2024.130430?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Siobhan Powell & Gustavo Vianna Cezar & Liang Min & Inês M. L. Azevedo & Ram Rajagopal, 2022. "Charging infrastructure access and operation to reduce the grid impacts of deep electric vehicle adoption," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 7(10), pages 932-945, October.
    2. Zhang, Qi & Liu, Jiangfeng & Yang, Kexin & Liu, Boyu & Wang, Ge, 2022. "Market adoption simulation of electric vehicle based on social network model considering nudge policies," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 259(C).
    3. Makena Coffman & Paul Bernstein & Sherilyn Wee, 2017. "Electric vehicles revisited: a review of factors that affect adoption," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(1), pages 79-93, January.
    4. Wang, Ning & Tian, Hangqi & Zhu, Shunbo & Li, Yuan, 2022. "Analysis of public acceptance of electric vehicle charging scheduling based on the technology acceptance model," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 258(C).
    5. Erdogan, Nuh & Kucuksari, Sadik & Murphy, Jimmy, 2022. "A multi-objective optimization model for EVSE deployment at workplaces with smart charging strategies and scheduling policies," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 254(PA).
    6. Turrentine, Tom & Garas, Dahlia & Lentz, Andy & Woodjack, Justin, 2011. "The UC Davis MINI E Consumer Study," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt15g9v24c, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.
    7. Krause, Rachel M. & Carley, Sanya R. & Lane, Bradley W. & Graham, John D., 2013. "Perception and reality: Public knowledge of plug-in electric vehicles in 21 U.S. cities," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 433-440.
    8. Willett Kempton & Nathaniel S. Pearre & Randall Guensler & Vetri V. Elango, 2023. "Influence of Battery Energy, Charging Power, and Charging Locations upon EVs’ Ability to Meet Trip Needs," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-23, February.
    9. Bunce, Louise & Harris, Margaret & Burgess, Mark, 2014. "Charge up then charge out? Drivers’ perceptions and experiences of electric vehicles in the UK," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 278-287.
    10. Zhou, Yue & Wen, Ruoxi & Wang, Hewu & Cai, Hua, 2020. "Optimal battery electric vehicles range: A study considering heterogeneous travel patterns, charging behaviors, and access to charging infrastructure," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 197(C).
    11. Liu, Xiaochen & Fu, Zhi & Qiu, Siyuan & Li, Shaojie & Zhang, Tao & Liu, Xiaohua & Jiang, Yi, 2023. "Building-centric investigation into electric vehicle behavior: A survey-based simulation method for charging system design," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 271(C).
    12. Nykvist, Björn & Sprei, Frances & Nilsson, Måns, 2019. "Assessing the progress toward lower priced long range battery electric vehicles," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 144-155.
    13. Ren, Yilong & Lan, Zhengxing & Yu, Haiyang & Jiao, Gangxin, 2022. "Analysis and prediction of charging behaviors for private battery electric vehicles with regular commuting: A case study in Beijing," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 253(C).
    14. Yin, Wanjun & Ji, Jianbo, 2024. "Research on EV charging load forecasting and orderly charging scheduling based on model fusion," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 290(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Tian, Chenlu & Liu, Yechun & Zhang, Guiqing & Yang, Yalong & Yan, Yi & Li, Chengdong, 2024. "Transfer learning based hybrid model for power demand prediction of large-scale electric vehicles," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 300(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Danielis, Romeo & Rotaris, Lucia & Giansoldati, Marco & Scorrano, Mariangela, 2020. "Drivers’ preferences for electric cars in Italy. Evidence from a country with limited but growing electric car uptake," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 79-94.
    2. Geels, Frank W. & Ayoub, Martina, 2023. "A socio-technical transition perspective on positive tipping points in climate change mitigation: Analysing seven interacting feedback loops in offshore wind and electric vehicles acceleration," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    3. Hu, Dingding & Zhou, Kaile & Li, Fangyi & Ma, Dawei, 2022. "Electric vehicle user classification and value discovery based on charging big data," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 249(C).
    4. José M. Cansino & Antonio Sánchez-Braza & Teresa Sanz-Díaz, 2018. "Policy Instruments to Promote Electro-Mobility in the EU28: A Comprehensive Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-27, July.
    5. Jia, Wenjian & Jiang, Zhiqiu & Wang, Qian & Xu, Bin & Xiao, Mei, 2023. "Preferences for zero-emission vehicle attributes: Comparing early adopters with mainstream consumers in California," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 21-32.
    6. Qian, Xiaodong & Gkritza, Konstantina, 2024. "Spatial and temporal variance in public perception of electric vehicles: A comparative analysis of adoption pioneers and laggards using twitter data," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 150-162.
    7. Berkeley, Nigel & Bailey, David & Jones, Andrew & Jarvis, David, 2017. "Assessing the transition towards Battery Electric Vehicles: A Multi-Level Perspective on drivers of, and barriers to, take up," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 320-332.
    8. Mahinda Vilathgamuwa & Yateendra Mishra & Tan Yigitcanlar & Ashish Bhaskar & Clevo Wilson, 2022. "Mobile-Energy-as-a-Service (MEaaS): Sustainable Electromobility via Integrated Energy–Transport–Urban Infrastructure," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-16, February.
    9. Cristina Sousa & Evaldo Costa, 2022. "Types of Policies for the Joint Diffusion of Electric Vehicles with Renewable Energies and Their Use Worldwide," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(20), pages 1-19, October.
    10. Hardman, Scott & Shiu, Eric & Steinberger-Wilckens, Robert & Turrentine, Thomas, 2017. "Barriers to the adoption of fuel cell vehicles: A qualitative investigation into early adopters attitudes," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 166-182.
    11. Nguyen-Phuoc, Duy Quy & Truong, Thi Minh & Nguyen, Minh Hieu & Pham, Huong-Giang & Li, Zhi-Chun & Oviedo-Trespalacios, Oscar, 2024. "What factors influence the intention to use electric motorcycles in motorcycle-dominated countries? An empirical study in Vietnam," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 193-204.
    12. Giansoldati, Marco & Rotaris, Lucia & Scorrano, Mariangela & Danielis, Romeo, 2020. "Does electric car knowledge influence car choice? Evidence from a hybrid choice model," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    13. Rotaris, Lucia & Giansoldati, Marco & Scorrano, Mariangela, 2021. "The slow uptake of electric cars in Italy and Slovenia. Evidence from a stated-preference survey and the role of knowledge and environmental awareness," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 1-18.
    14. Liu, Xiaochen & Fu, Zhi & Qiu, Siyuan & Zhang, Tao & Li, Shaojie & Yang, Zhi & Liu, Xiaohua & Jiang, Yi, 2023. "Charging private electric vehicles solely by photovoltaics: A battery-free direct-current microgrid with distributed charging strategy," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 341(C).
    15. Bunce, Louise & Harris, Margaret & Burgess, Mark, 2014. "Charge up then charge out? Drivers’ perceptions and experiences of electric vehicles in the UK," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 278-287.
    16. Haustein, Sonja & Jensen, Anders Fjendbo & Cherchi, Elisabetta, 2021. "Battery electric vehicle adoption in Denmark and Sweden: Recent changes, related factors and policy implications," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    17. Li, Xiaohui & Wang, Zhenpo & Zhang, Lei & Sun, Fengchun & Cui, Dingsong & Hecht, Christopher & Figgener, Jan & Sauer, Dirk Uwe, 2023. "Electric vehicle behavior modeling and applications in vehicle-grid integration: An overview," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 268(C).
    18. Agovino, Massimiliano & Ferraro, Aniello & Garofalo, Antonio, 2023. "Are green cars an optimal and efficient choice for motorists? Evidence from Italy," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 140-151.
    19. Hardman, Scott, 2019. "Understanding the impact of reoccurring and non-financial incentives on plug-in electric vehicle adoption – A review," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 1-14.
    20. Chanwit Kongklaew & Khamphe Phoungthong & Chanwit Prabpayak & Md. Shahariar Chowdhury & Imran Khan & Nuttaya Yuangyai & Chumpol Yuangyai & Kuaanan Techato, 2021. "Barriers to Electric Vehicle Adoption in Thailand," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-13, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:292:y:2024:i:c:s0360544224002019. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.