ScienceDaily (Nov. 10, 2009) — A University of Michigan survey released today shows widespread consumer interest in buying plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). But the cost of the cars is much more influential than environmental and other non-economic factors as a predictor of purchase probabilities.

Example of plug-in electric car. (Credit: iStockphoto/Karen Keczmerski)

The survey of a nationally representative sample of 2,513 adults age 18 and over was conducted between July and November 2008 as part of the Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers. The findings were released at The Business of Plugging In: A Plug-In Electric Vehicle Conference in Detroit.

"The data provide strong evidence that a combination of economic and social incentives may be most effective in successfully introducing these vehicles," said economist Richard Curtin, director of the Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers, conducted by the U-M Institute for Social Research.

The study was supported by funds from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the U-M Transportation Research Institute. In addition to assessing the current state of knowledge and opinions about PHEVs, the survey addressed the willingness to pay for these vehicles given different cost and fuel savings scenarios.

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