Research On China's Electric Vehicle Policies From The Perspective Of Consumers

Promoting electric vehicles(EVs)to replace petrol-vehicles can help reduce air pollution,reduce fossil energy consumption and carbon emissions,and at the same time be beneficial to the revitalization of China's automobile industry.Therefore,China has released a series of policies to promote the rapid development of the EV industry in recent years.However,how do various policies affect consumers' choice of EVs? In the current market environment,what kind of EVs do Chinese consumers want? How does charging infrastructure affect consumers' choice of EVs? After the high subsidy gradually declines and is finally canceled,how to carry out the next policy design to better meet the needs of China's EV consumers? These issues are the core topics studied in this article.Based on a review of the research literature on EVs policies in the recent ten years and the EVs policies of China,this paper comprehensively applies econometric methods such as panel co-integration models,and panel error correction models.For the first time,China's unique restrictions on the purchase and driving of petro-vehicles are included in the evaluation of EV policies.We innovatively use big data and text mining to analyze the behavior and preference of EV.Moreover,the panel vector autoregressive model is used to study the interaction among EVs,charging piles and consumers,avoiding one-way discussions of unidirectional relationships among these factors.Finally,based on solving the core issues of China's EV policy evaluation,EV consumers' preferences,and the synergic relationship between EVs and charging piles,nine alternative policies after subsidy withdrawal are designed.And combining behavioral economics theory,consumers' willingness to pay for alternative policies is investigated through a discrete choice experiment,which provides an empirical basis for future policy design of EVs.The results show that the policies of China's central government have had a positive impact on the diffusion of EVs.Especially unique policies of restricting the purchase and driving of petro-cars of China have indeed promoted the diffusion of EVs.From the perspective of consumers,shortening charging time and increasing charging power should be the future direction of technology research and development.There is a positive synergistic relationship between EV sales,the number of charging piles,and consumers' attention.The reduction of charging fee can effectively increase the number of charging piles.In this paper,it is suggested to gradually implement the comprehensive unrestricted purchase of EVs,continue to accelerate the decline of subsidies for EV purchase,and stop the construction subsidies for charging piles,and turn to policies that support the technological research and development of enterprises and reduce the operation cost of EVs,such as subsidies for charging.Before making technological breakthroughs in battery and charging technology,we should promote the small size battery electric vehicles,and take plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and extended-range electric vehicles as transitional EV models to meet the diverse needs of consumers.Finally,increasing publicity of relevant policies can increase consumers' attention and understanding of EVs,thus indirectly increasing EVs sales and the number of newly built charging piles.