Start Date
11-12-2016 12:00 AM
Description
Electric vehicles (EVs) could play a major role in making personal transportation more sustainable. Yet, their diffusion is slow and the general public is skeptical of their potential to replace conventional combustion vehicles (CVs). We investigate differences in driver behavior between the two types, showing how sharing economy approaches can help people overcome concerns related to electric mobility. We analyze a dataset of carsharing rentals of a provider who offers EVs and CVs under the same conditions, within the same city, comprising over 230,000 rentals of approximately 750 cars over a period of 3.5 months. Our preliminary results suggest that in fact, once people get acquainted with EVs – at least in an urban carsharing context – they use them in a very similar manner as they use CVs. This suggests that the sharing economy supports the adoption of electric mobility and fosters more sustainable transportation.
Recommended Citation
Willing, Christoph; Brandt, Tobias; and Neumann, Dirk, "Sharing is Caring - Understanding the Relationship Between the Sharing Economy and Sustainable Mobility" (2016). ICIS 2016 Proceedings. 17.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/icis2016/Crowdsourcing/Presentations/17
Sharing is Caring - Understanding the Relationship Between the Sharing Economy and Sustainable Mobility
Electric vehicles (EVs) could play a major role in making personal transportation more sustainable. Yet, their diffusion is slow and the general public is skeptical of their potential to replace conventional combustion vehicles (CVs). We investigate differences in driver behavior between the two types, showing how sharing economy approaches can help people overcome concerns related to electric mobility. We analyze a dataset of carsharing rentals of a provider who offers EVs and CVs under the same conditions, within the same city, comprising over 230,000 rentals of approximately 750 cars over a period of 3.5 months. Our preliminary results suggest that in fact, once people get acquainted with EVs – at least in an urban carsharing context – they use them in a very similar manner as they use CVs. This suggests that the sharing economy supports the adoption of electric mobility and fosters more sustainable transportation.