Psychological characteristics associated with increased range anxiety in electric vehicle owners

Abstract

Click on the DOI link to access this article at the publishers website (may not be free).A major barrier to the adoption of electric vehicle (EV) usage in the US is the current lack of charging infrastructure. This leads to concerns over running out of charge before a charging station can be reached, a phenomenon termed range anxiety. The purpose of the current study was to determine factors associated with range anxiety in a sample (N = 184) of EV owners. Participants completed an online survey which asked questions about their demographics and driving characteristics. Mental health and personality measures were also included. The outcome variable was self-reported range anxiety. At the univariate level length of daily commute, years of education, age, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and general level of psychological distress were all associated with range anxiety. When these variables were entered into a logistic regression only the general level of psychological distress and younger age were significant. These findings have several implications. The efforts of governments and industry towards reducing range anxiety have focused on infrastructure. This may not be sufficient to reduce range anxiety, as our findings indicate that range anxiety was not related to driving characteristics, but was instead best predicted by an individual’s overall psychological distress. Therefore, techniques to address characterological anxiety and general psychological distress should also be utilized. © NAJP