Framework to determine factors affecting the willingness to pay for electric vehicle conversion (EVC)

The transport sector is one of the main contributors to carbon dioxide emission in Thailand. This is because of the continuous increase in the utilization of gasoline. Government industrial agencies have acknowledged the importance of reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Consequently, the automotive industry has been developing an advanced technology that can release less carbon dioxide; one such technology is the development of an electric vehicle (EV) that uses electric energy instead of gasoline. However, electric vehicles have not received much interest from consumers in Thailand, as they are usually more expensive than regular gasoline cars when compared to cars of the same size. Recently, the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) and the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA) have jointly collaborated to develop electric vehicle conversion (EVC). It is a car modification that converts an existing non-EV vehicle to be an EV. The conversion cost is about 200,000 Thai Baht (excluding battery). The existing functions in an old car such as the air-conditioner, radio, and electric systems are maintained in the conversion process. However, EVC is still in the development phase, and a plan to commercialize EVC has not been developed. The objective of this research is focused on determining significant factors affecting the willingness to pay (WTP) for EVC. A questionnaire survey was developed and distributed randomly to 406 people at Bangkok International Motor Show 2019 event in Thailand. The descriptive results show that approximately 69% of respondents are willing to convert a regular gasoline vehicle to an EV, the average price that they are willingness to pay for conversion is about 160,931 Baht. The results of binary logistic regression analysis and multiple regression indicated that, the factors that the factors that affect a customer's willingness to pay are monthly income, education, household size, number of owned cars, maintenance cost, age of the owned car, driving distance per day, environmental awareness, and environmental behavior. Some recommendations are discussed.

泰国交通运输业是二氧化碳排放的主要贡献来源之一，究其根源在于汽油使用量的持续攀升。泰国政府工业主管部门已充分认识到降低二氧化碳排放的重要性，因此汽车产业一直在研发低碳排放的先进技术，其中一项典型方案便是以电能替代汽油的电动汽车（electric vehicle, EV）研发。然而，泰国消费者对电动汽车的接受度仍较为有限，原因在于同级别车型中，电动汽车的售价通常高于传统燃油汽车。近期，泰国电力局（Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, EGAT）与国家科学技术发展署（National Science and Technology Development Agency, NSTDA）联合开展电动汽车改装（electric vehicle conversion, EVC）技术的研发工作：该技术通过车辆改装将现有非电动汽车改造为电动汽车，改装成本约为20万泰铢（不含电池），且改装过程中将完整保留原车原有功能，如空调、收音机及车载电气系统。但目前电动汽车改装技术仍处于研发阶段，尚未形成商业化推广的可行方案。本研究的核心目标是识别影响消费者电动汽车改装意愿支付价格（willingness to pay, WTP）的关键因素。研究团队通过设计调查问卷，于2019年泰国曼谷国际车展期间随机抽取406名受访者开展调研。描述性统计结果显示，约69%的受访者愿意将现有燃油汽车改装为电动汽车，其平均意愿改装支付价格约为160931泰铢。二元logistic回归分析与多元回归分析结果表明，影响消费者意愿支付价格的因素包括月收入、受教育程度、家庭规模、私家车保有量、车辆维保成本、现有车辆车龄、日均行驶里程、环保意识与环保行为。最后本文将对相关建议展开讨论。