Optimal Pricing And Driving Range Level Decisions For An Electric Vehicle Manufacturer Under Encroachment Of A Car-sharing Platform And Applied Research

In recent years,driven by the concept of sharing economy which emphasizes accessing but not owning products and the electrification of vehicles,the combination of electric vehicles(EVs)with car-sharing operations is emerging globally as a viable alternative to EV ownership for consumers.Since the pay-per-use mode provided by car-sharing platforms allows consumers to use the shared EVs according to their own needs,it not only brings convenience to consumers,but also eases the worries about the driving range level when consumers use EVs,which affect the sales business of electric vehicle manufacturers(EV-OEMs).Therefore,it is worthy of further study to consider the coping strategies of EV-OEMs under the encroachment of car-sharing platforms.At present,the decision-makings of a manufacturer in the sharing economy environment have been widely concerned by scholars at home and abroad,and the studies on how manufacturers cooperate with sharing platforms have been widely studied.There are still competitive relationships between EV-OEMs(such as Tesla and NIO)and car-sharing platforms(such as Zipcar and EVCARD),but few scholars pay attention to the competition between them.Therefore,it is necessary to propose a research framework for the competition between an EV-OEM and a car-sharing platform.Considering the characteristics of EVs,after the encroachment of the car-sharing platform,the EV-OEM can take actions from two aspects of pricing and driving range level.The adjustment of the driving range level involves technology research and development and product commissioning,which is a long-term desision.Therefore,it is necessary to consider the short-term case and the long-term case respectively when considering the optimal pricing and driving range level decision-makings of the EV-OEM under the encroachment of the car-sharing platform,which has important theoretical and practical significance.This thesis studies the optimal pricing and driving range level decision-makings of the EV-OEM considering the encroachment of the car-sharing platform.The main work completed includes three aspects.First,we investigate the optimal decisions of the EV-OEM under the encroachment of the car-sharing platform in short-term case.For the pricing interaction between the EV-OEM and the car-sharing platform,this study considering the three cases of the EV-OEM acts as the price leader,the car-sharing platform acts as the price leader,and the two firms set their prices simultaneously.By establishing and solving the profit maximization models of the EV-OEM and the car-sharing platform,we obtain the optimal prices and profits of the EV-OEM and the car-sharing platform in the three pricing leader strategies,respectively.Furthermore,we analyze the optimal price leadership strategy selection between the EV-OEM and the car-sharing platform and the impact on the EV-OEM of the encroachment of the car-sharing platform in short-term case by comparing the optimal prices and profits in the diffirent pricing leader strategies and the optimal sale price,optimal profit and sale demand of the EV-OEM with and without the encroachment of the car-sharing platform.We find that the sale price under Strategy O(Strategy B)is highest when the EV operating cost incurred by the sharing platform is high(low),and the sale price under Strategy S is always lowest.The sharing platform(EV-OEM)should be the price leader if the EV operating cost incurred by the sharing platform is low(high),which is the best for both sides,the simultaneous pricing will not be the optimal strategy.In short term case,the EV-OEM should reduce the sale price to cope with the encroachment of the car-sharing platform,but its profitability will also be affected by the encroachment.Second,we investigate the optimal decisions of the EV-OEM under the encroachment of the car-sharing platform in long-term case.For the pricing interaction between the EV-OEM and the car-sharing platform,this study considering the three cases of the EV-OEM acts as the price leader,the car-sharing platform acts as the price leader,and the two firms set their prices simultaneously.By establishing and solving the profit maximization models of the EV-OEM and the car-sharing platform,we obtain the optimal prices,optimal driving range levels and optimal profits of the EV-OEM and the car-sharing platform in the three pricing leader strategies,respectively.Furthermore,we analyze the optimal price leadership strategy selection between the EV-OEM and the car-sharing platform,the driving range level decision of the EV-OEM and the impact on the EV-OEM of the encroachment of the car-sharing platform in long-term case by comparing the optimal prices,optmal driving range levels and optimal profits in the diffirent pricing leader strategies and the optimal sale price,optimal profit and sale demand of the EV-OEM with and without the encroachment of the car-sharing platform.We find that the driving range level under Strategy O(Strategy B)is highest when the EV operating cost incurred by the sharing platform is high(low).The sale price under Strategy O(Strategy B)is highest when the EV operating cost incurred by the sharing platform is high(low),and the competition between the EV-OEM and the car-sharing platform will eased if the former can make the driving range level decision.The sharing platform(EV-OEM)should be the price leader if the EV operating cost incurred by the sharing platform is low(high),which is the best for both sides,and when the operating cost is moderate,they prefer to be the price follower,but they should avoid announcing prices simultaneously.In long term case,when the perception of consumers’ the value of shared products is low and the use need of consumers is large,the EV-OEM can obtain more profits.Third,the applied research.The condition of the optimal pricing and driving range level decisions of the EV-OEM under the encroachment of the car-sharing platform proposed by this study is applied to the manufacturer A.This study introduces the general situation of manufacturer A and analyzes the problems of the business model.Then,this study provides reference of the decisions of the manufacturer A by matching the optimal pricing and driving range level decisions of the EV-OEM with the actual situation of the manufacturer A.This thesis proposes a research framework based on the optimal pricing and driving range level decisions of the EV-OEM under the encroachment of the car-sharing platform is more in line with the practice.This study enriches the research content of the manufacturers’operation decision-makings in the environment of the sharing economy,and it can be a reference for further research works.