Attention:NSF PAR will be unavailable due to scheduled facility maintenance July 10th, 5 PM EDT through July 13th. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Explore Research Products in the PAR
It may take a few hours for recently added research products to appear in PAR search results.


This content will become publicly available on October 11, 2026

Title: Driving Toward EV Adoption: Why South Alabama isn’t Plugged in yet
This study examines barriers and motivators for adopting electric vehicles (EVs) in South Alabama by extending the Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) framework. While the transition to EVs is a growing national trend, skepticism and limited exposure continue to slow diffusion in the region, and consumers view EVs as incompatible with their daily routines. EV adoption across South Alabama has lagged despite coordinated efforts by government agencies to develop EV infrastructure and the efforts of EV manufacturers to promote adoption. Results of a PLS-SEM analysis reveal that the Relative Advantages that EVs provide over traditional vehicles significantly predict Purchase Intentions, with Price Value serving as an antecedent, suggesting consumers see a long-term financial appeal despite higher upfront costs. However, environmental beliefs in the form of Biospheric Values did not translate into increased purchase intentions, as Environmental Relative Advantage failed to demonstrate a mediating effect. Among DOI attributes, Complexity acted as a barrier, while Trialability and Compatibility were motivators for adoption, particularly with the availability of test drives and adequate charging infrastructure. Social norms also shaped perceptions of Compatibility, showing peer influence can act as either a barrier or motivator to EV adoption. Findings underscore the need for targeted infrastructure investment as well as opportunities for hands-on experience to address consumer hesitancy. This study contributes to the understanding of EV market penetration and provides actionable insights for policymakers and stakeholders aiming to address geographic disparities in EV adoption. Future research should expand the study by including samples from similar regions.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2301882
PAR ID:
10683695
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ;
Publisher / Repository:
Advances in Business Management
Date Published:
Page Range / eLocation ID:
11
Format(s):
Medium: X
Location:
Jaco Beach, Costa Rica
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. ; ; ; ; ; ; (, Energy Research & Social Science)
    Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is an international impetus to transition from vehicles with internal combustion engines (ICE) to electric vehicles (EV). While this transition is happening rapidly in some regions of the world that are mainly urbanized, other predominantly rural and less developed regions are slower to adopt this technology. Rural Alaska serves as an example with its not-road-connected communities, high cost of electricity, extreme environmental conditions, and isolated power grids often powered by diesel. This study used co-production and mixed methods to identify barriers and perceived benefits towards EV adoption and explore EV adoption rates across the Arctic. We conducted community workshops in Bethel, Galena, and Kotzebue, Alaska, and 25 interviews with businesses and local governments. The top five impediments to EV adoption are the inability to maintain vehicles locally, cold weather performance, higher purchase prices compared to ICE vehicles, and the cost of electricity. The successful adoption of EVs in isolated microgrid communities in the Arctic requires investments in appropriate financial incentives, especially for low-income households, expansion of renewable power generation, and climate and culture-relevant proof-of-concept vehicles. Residents acknowledged that EVs generally operate much cleaner than vehicles with ICE, can have lower fuel and maintenance costs, and cause less air and noise pollution. We propose a framework to develop policies to facilitate the adoption of EVs in rural areas. Policy implications for overcoming the challenges related to the transition to EVs in remote rural parts of the globe are discussed. 
    more » « less
  2. ; ; ; ; (, IEEE)
    The rise of Electric Vehicles (EVs) has presented a promising solution to the environmental and resource challenges posed by conventional combustion engine vehicles. With their potential to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance air quality, the adoption of EVs is essential for a more sustainable future. However, despite their benefits, widespread adoption remains limited. Thus, understanding the key factors that impact consumer adoption is crucial for promoting their use. This study aims to identify and analyze the various determinants that influence EV adoption, including social and demographic, political, economic, technological, and environmental factors. The findings offer valuable insights into the most significant barriers to EV adoption and provide potential strategies to encourage their use. Furthermore, this study examines the feasibility and sustainability of integrating EVs with public transportation via park-and-ride stations, emphasizing the importance of promoting sustainable transportation given the continued reliance on personal vehicles for park-and-ride travel. 
    more » « less
  3. ; ; (, Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board)
    Electric vehicles (EVs) promise a sustainable solution to mitigating negative emission externalities of transportation systems caused by fossil-fueled conventional vehicles (CVs). While recent developments in battery technology and charging infrastructure can help evolve the niche market of EVs into the mass market, EVs are yet to be widely adopted by the public. This calls for an in-depth understanding of public adoption behavior of EVs as one dimension of vehicle decision making, which itself may be intertwined with other vehicle decision-making dimensions, especially vehicle transaction. This study presents an integrated choice model with latent variables (ICLV) to investigate households’—as a decision-making unit—decisions on vehicle transaction type (i.e., no transaction, sell, add, and trade) and vehicle fuel type (i.e., CVs and all EV types, including hybrid EV, plug-in hybrid EV, and battery EV) choice. To analyze the ICLV model empirically, one of the first revealed preferences national vehicle survey involving CVs and all EV types was conducted, which retrospectively inquired about 1,691 American households’ dynamics of vehicle decision making and demographic attributes over a 10-year period as well as their attitudes/preferences. The model estimation results highlight that EV adoption and vehicle transaction choice is influenced mainly by (1) the dynamics of household demographic attributes and (2) four latent constructs explaining attentiveness to vehicle attributes, social influence, environmental consciousness, and technology savviness. Notably, EV adoption promotion policies are found to be likely most effective on socially influenced individuals, who tend to consider advertisement and social trend more when making vehicle decisions. 
    more » « less
  4. ; ; ; ; ; (, Proceedings of the Thirty-First International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence)
    Residential consumers have become active participants in the power distribution network after being equipped with residential EV charging provisions. This creates a challenge for the network operator tasked with dispatching electric power to the residential consumers through the existing distribution network infrastructure in a reliable manner. In this paper, we address the problem of scheduling residential EV charging for multiple consumers while maintaining network reliability. An additional challenge is the restricted exchange of information: where the consumers do not have access to network information and the network operator does not have access to consumer load parameters. We propose a distributed framework which generates an optimal EV charging schedule for individual residential consumers based on their preferences and iteratively updates it until the network reliability constraints set by the operator are satisfied. We validate the proposed approach for different EV adoption levels in a synthetically created digital twin of an actual power distribution network. The results demonstrate that the new approach can achieve a higher level of network reliability compared to the case where residential consumers charge EVs based solely on their individual preferences, thus providing a solution for the existing grid to keep up with increased adoption rates without significant investments in increasing grid capacity. 
    more » « less
  5. ; ; ; ; ; ; (, ACM)
    In recent years, electric vehicles (EVs) have emerged as a sustainable alternative to conventional automobiles. Distinguished by their environmental friendliness, superior performance, reduced noise, and low maintenance requirements, EVs offer numerous advantages over traditional vehicles. The integration of electric vehicles with cloud computing has heralded a transformative shift in the automotive industry. However, as EVs become increasingly interconnected with the internet, various devices, and infrastructure, they become susceptible to cyberattacks. These attacks pose a significant risk to the safety, privacy, and functionality of both the vehicles and the broader transportation infrastructure. In this paper, we delve into the topic of electric vehicles and their connectivity to the cloud. We scrutinize the potential attack vectors that EVs are vulnerable to and the consequential impact on vehicle operations. Moreover, we outline both general and specific strategies aimed at thwarting these cyberattacks. Additionally, we anticipate future developments aimed at enhancing EV performance and reducing security risks. 
    more » « less
  • Citation Formats
  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago
  • BibTeX
  • Text Encoded Conversion
  • XML
  • Save / Share this Record
  • Send to Email