The Adoption of New and Used Electric Vehicles : The difference in the impact of financial factors for new vs. used electric vehicles

Sammanfattning: The growth of the market for electric vehicles (EVs) is increasing each year with record numbers of newly registered electric vehicles in 2022. Electric vehicles are considered the key component of a sustainable transportation sector. The knowledge of influential factors on purchase decisions for new EVs is high. The research attention within the field has been huge over the last decade. As the number of EVs in the transport sector increases, the number of used EVs is increasing. However, basically no research about influential factors for purchase decisions of used EVs can be found. As the prices of new EVs are high, the market for such vehicles is constrained to certain consumer groups. To succeed with the transformation of the transport sector, more consumer groups need to have access to EVs, which can be accomplished with a well-established market for used EVs. The knowledge about financial factors for used EVs need to increase. The purpose of this study is to understand if well-known financial factors influencing purchase decisions for new EVs have similar effects on purchase decisions for used EVs. As in previous studies, this study applies a quantitative research approach where an online survey has been designed with liker-scale questions. A total of 90 respondents in varying age groups answered the survey based on five categories of financial factors: financial incentives, purchasing price, operational costs, maintenance costs, and residual value. The data has been analyzed using Spearman correlation, principal component analysis (PCA), and ordered logistic regression. The Spearman correlation found positive significance between the financial factors and the purchase intention of new and used EVs. The factors identified in the PCA are in line with the expected factors as the predefined research model. The ordered logistic regression could however support significant relation with purchase intensions of new EVs the aspect of financial incentives and residual value. For used EVs the regression was not successful. This study shows that the influence of financial incentives on the purchase intention of EVs, are similar to both new EVs as for used EVs. This result is however based on a small data sample that is much smaller than previous studies. For future research it is important to retrieve a larger data sample to improve reliability of the result. The regression analysis did not support the analytical outcome of the Spearman correlation and it needs to be further analyzed why a significant regression model could not be defined in relation to used EVs.