Electric vehicle public charging choices: a qualitative investigation

Understanding how potential and existing electric vehicle users choose public charging is critical for the development of public-charging infrastructure. This study employs a qualitative approach guided by stated choice tasks to examine the decision-making processes regarding public charging. Through 20 interviews of existing and potential EV users in the UK, thematic analysis of responses pointed towards three areas: the choice context, attribute non-attendance and payment method. Participants sought detailed information about the circumstances under which they had to charge their vehicles. Attribute non-attendance meant that some participants paid more attention to specific attributes than others (e.g. location, price). Responses around the payment method pointed towards differences in relation to personal attitudes. This evidence suggests that charging choices are context-dependent, choices may be guided by specific attributes and individual attitudes play a role in these choices. These are also important considerations when designing a large-scale survey involving choice experiments and public charging.