Abstract
Electric vehicles and gasoline vehicles are substitutes for each other, and the cost of fuel is an important factor when consumers are faced with choices. Understanding the influence of changes in gasoline prices and charging prices on electric vehicle sales is of reference significance for promoting electric vehicles in the private sector. This paper uses data covering 212 prefecture-level cities from January, 2020, to August, 2022, for analysis, and the results show that different income groups have different sensitivities to the difference in oil and electricity prices. Additionally, changes in gasoline prices and charging prices will significantly affect electric vehicle sales in low-income and middle-income cities, electric vehicle sales in high-income cities will not be affected. Compared with nonpilot cities, residents of pilot cities are more sensitive to fuel price changes, indicating that the policy basis has a certain positive effect on the promotion of electric vehicles. It is recommended to consider the income status of regional residents when formulating policies for the use of electric vehicles. At the same time, publicity efforts should be increased to highlight the gap between the cost of fuel vehicles and electric vehicles.
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The data used in this article are from publicly published yearbooks or public websites, as specified in the data sources section of the article.
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Funding
This work was supported by the National Social Science Fund of China (Grant No. 20BTJ060) and the Natural Science Fund of Shandong Province (Grant No. ZR2020MG065).
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Zhenzhen Jiang and **nwei Gao. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Zhenzhen Jiang and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Jiang, ., Gao, X. Will changes in charging and gasoline prices affect electric vehicle sales? Evidence from China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 31, 3123–3133 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-31389-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-31389-5