Identify the policy weaknesses in China's electric vehicle development

Abstract

The electric vehicle industry is currently undergoing a profound transformation. We conducted two surveys, respectively, in 2016 and 2022, to investigate whether these changes are perceived by consumers and to identify the key limitations of policy implementation. Our primary findings are as follows: a) The improvement in air quality has led to a gradual weakening of the influence of smog-related concerns on consumers' purchase intentions, rendering this factor no longer significant; b) Network externalities have been found to have the most substantial cumulative impact on enhancing consumers' purchase intentions, with this positive effect expected to expand further in the future; c) The decline in subsidies has had a relatively weak negative impact, resulting in a relatively minimal cumulative negative effect from 2016 to 2022; d) The perceived inadequacy of charging infrastructure improvements has a comparatively modest cumulative effect on consumers' purchase intentions, thereby emerging as a key limitation of policy implementation.