Evaluation of prospective users’ choice decision toward electric two-wheelers using a stated preference survey: An Indian perspective

Electric two-wheelers (E2W) can help de-carbonize transport in Indian cities. To promote E2W as an attractive alternative compared to the conventional two-wheelers, an investigation on prospective users’ choice decisions is necessary. This paper proposed a comprehensive methodology to evaluate the prospective users’ choice decision toward electric two-wheelers and related attributes in the Indian context. In this paper, attributes such as Operating Cost (OC) savings, top speed, range, charging duration, acceleration, and purchase cost were considered to design a Stated Preference (SP) survey to collect data from prospective E2W users in Hyderabad, India. Concurrently, multinomial logit (MNL) and random parameter logit (RPL) models are developed, and the willingness-to-pay (WTP) associated with each of the identified attributes was estimated. Additionally, the effect of socio-economic characteristics on prospective users’ choice decision was also assessed. Subsequently, a sensitivity analysis was carried out to estimate the relative influence of the attributes on an individual’s choice decision in terms of the shift in probability to choose alternatives with better attribute levels than the base alternative. The results revealed that top speed was perceived as the most important attribute influencing an individual’s choice decision, followed by acceleration and charging duration. Age, income, and journey time significantly influenced an individual’s perception toward E2W and related attributes in the Indian context.