The role of gas anxiety in the charging choices of plug-in hybrid electric vehicle drivers

Abstract

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) provide an opportunity to reduce petroleum consumption and greenhouse gas emissions without causing range anxiety. As a result, PHEV drivers are commonly assumed to be less dependent on the availability of charging infrastructure than battery electric vehicle (BEV) drivers. However there is also evidence that PHEVs plug in more often than BEVs because the owners have gas anxiety - a strong desire to avoid using gasoline. This work examines the existence of gas anxiety by analyzing the factors influencing charging decision of PHEV owners. A web-based stated preference survey was conducted and the data was analyzed using a latent class logit model. The result shows that there are two classes of decision making patterns among PHEV owners: those who value gasoline cost and recharging expenditure almost the same (class 1) and those who value gasoline cost more heavily than recharging cost (class 2). Among those in class 2, the amount of money spent on gasoline has much bigger influence on the utility of charging than the amount spent on electricity at the recharging station, which can be interpreted as a form of gas anxiety.