Which Factors Can Protect Against Range Stress in Everyday Usage of Battery Electric Vehicles? Toward Enhancing Sustainability of Electric Mobility Systems.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the present research was to advance understanding of factors that can protect against range anxiety, specifically range stress in everyday usage of battery electric vehicles (BEVs). BACKGROUND: Range anxiety is a major barrier to the broad adoption of sustainable electric mobility systems. To develop strategies aimed at overcoming range anxiety, a clear understanding of this phenomenon and influencing factors is needed. METHOD: We examined range anxiety in the form of everyday range stress (ERS) in a field study setting. Seventy-two customers leased a BEV for 3 months. The field study was specifically designed to enable examination of factors that can contribute to lower ERS. In particular, study design and sample recruitment were targeted at generating vehicle usage profiles that would lead to relatively frequent experience of situations requiring active management of range resources and thereby potentially leading to experienced range stress. RESULTS: Less frequent encounter with critical range situations, higher practical experience, subjective range competence, tolerance of low range, and experienced trustworthiness of the range estimation system were related to lower ERS. Moreover, range stress was found to be related to range satisfaction and BEV acceptance. CONCLUSION: The results underline the importance of the human factors perspective to overcome range anxiety and enhance sustainability of electric mobility systems. APPLICATION: Trustworthiness should be employed as a key benchmark variable in the design of range estimation systems, and assistance systems should target increasing drivers' adaptive capacity (i.e., resilience) to cope with critical range situations.

Does this range suit me? Range satisfaction of battery electric vehicle users.

User satisfaction is a vital design criterion for sustainable systems. The present research aimed to understand factors relating to individually perceived range satisfaction of battery electric vehicle (BEV) users. Data from a large-scale BEV field trial (N = 72) were analyzed. Apart from an initial drop in range satisfaction, increasing practical experience was related to increased range satisfaction. Classical indicators of users' mobility profiles (daily travel distances) were only weakly related to lower range satisfaction (not significant), after controlling for practical experience and preferred coverage of mobility needs. The regularity/predictability of users' mobility patterns, the percentage of journeys not coverable because of range issues, and users' individual comfortable range accounted for variance in range satisfaction. Finally, range satisfaction was related to key indicators of general BEV acceptance (e.g., purchase intentions). These results underline the complex dynamics involved in individual range satisfaction, as well as its central role for BEV acceptance.