Purpose

The Indian automotive industry was witnessing a transition from conventional vehicles to greener battery-operated electric vehicles (EVs). However, the acceptance of these EVs was still muted and brought significant challenges for the industry. Literature regarding the adoption of EVs was scarce in the Indian context. It was thus imperative to explore and comprehend the distinct perceptions of industry managers and consumers regarding the adoption of EVs in India. The purpose of this study is to comprehensively analyze the entire Indian EVs ecosystem to address this research gap.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors carried out an empirical investigation starting with a structured literature review to identify the researchable gaps. Subsequently, the authors conducted semi-structured open-ended interviews with 38 experts including automotive industry experts and EV consumers. The authors further performed a thematic content analysis of the expert interview responses to document critical insights regarding the adoption of EVs.

Findings

The authors identified 11 key factors influencing the adoption of EVs in this study. The vital considerations regarding the availability of charging technologies, its associated selection dilemma, emerging business models and public policy support were presented and discussed. Market penetration of EVs was found to be influenced mostly by the choice of charging technology. Further, the switching intention of consumers was deliberated upon to highlight the specific technological and psychological preferences of consumers. The accessibility of charging stations emerged as the most influential factor. The research findings indicated that harmony among stakeholders was missing in the Indian EVs ecosystem. Instead, there were discrete efforts by organizations. The EVs ecosystem required collaboration for improved adoption of the EVs. Further, the necessity to rectify the chaotic charging infrastructure in the country was highlighted as a major pain point for customers to adopt EV.

Research limitations/implications

This study theoretically contributed to push–pull–mooring (PPM) framework for understanding the adoption of EVs in India. This enabled the authors to extensively analyze consumers’ psychological and technological considerations regarding their switching intention toward EVs.

Practical implications

The findings of this study would help managers in decision-making toward the establishment of charging infrastructure involving multiple considerations such as the accessibility of charging, multi-dimensional competence at charging stations and servicing capabilities. Managers could also use the insights from this study to secure supportive recommendations for improving the overall EV infrastructure. The results of this study would benefit policymakers to set strategic directions through an integrated view of the entire EVs ecosystem involving management of bus and taxi fleets, two-wheelers and three-wheelers and such others.

Originality/value

Generally, in extant research, either firm managers’ or customers’ perspectives are considered separately. This study deliberated upon the PPM framework and switching intention accommodating both the industry and consumers’ perspectives. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this was, thus, one of the first research articles which integrated insights from both the industry and consumers. This established the PPM framework for understanding the adoption of EVs. Further, it helped in comprehending the specific technological and psychological preferences of consumers regarding switching intention toward EVs.

中文翻译：

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探索影响电动汽车采用的因素：印度新兴经济背景下的实证研究

目的

印度汽车工业正见证着从传统汽车向绿色电池驱动的电动汽车（EV）的过渡。但是，这些电动汽车的接受度仍然很低，给行业带来了巨大的挑战。在印度，有关电动汽车采用的文献很少。因此，有必要探索和理解行业管理者和消费者对于在印度采用电动汽车的不同看法。这项研究的目的是全面分析整个印度电动汽车生态系统，以弥补这一研究空白。

设计/方法/方法

作者从结构化的文献综述开始进行了实证研究，以查明可研究的差距。随后，作者对38位专家进行了半结构化的开放式访谈，其中包括汽车行业专家和EV消费者。作者进一步对专家访谈的答复进行了主题内容分析，以记录有关采用电动汽车的重要见解。

发现

作者确定了在这项研究中影响电动汽车采用的11个关键因素。提出并讨论了有关充电技术的可用性，相关的选择困境，新兴的商业模式和公共政策支持的重要考虑。电动汽车的市场渗透率主要受充电技术的选择影响。此外，还考虑了消费者的转换意图，以突出消费者的特定技术和心理偏好。充电站的可达性成为最有影响力的因素。研究结果表明，印度电动汽车生态系统中缺少利益相关者之间的和谐。取而代之的是，组织做出了不同的努力。电动汽车生态系统需要合作，以提高电动汽车的采用率。更多，

研究局限/意义

该研究从理论上为推拉式系泊（PPM）框架做出了贡献，以了解印度对电动汽车的采用。这使作者能够广泛分析消费者在转向电动汽车方面的心理和技术考虑。

实际影响

这项研究的结果将有助于管理人员在建立充电基础设施的决策中，涉及多个考虑因素，例如充电的可及性，充电站的多维能力和维修能力。管理人员还可以利用本研究的见识来获得支持建议，以改善整个电动汽车基础设施。这项研究的结果将有利于政策制定者通过对整个电动汽车生态系统的综合看法来制定战略方向，包括对公交车和出租车车队，两轮车和三轮车等的管理。

创意/价值

通常，在现有研究中，公司经理或客户的观点是分开考虑的。这项研究考虑了PPM框架和适应行业和消费者观点的转换意图。据作者所知，这是第一篇综合了行业和消费者的见解的研究文章之一。这建立了理解电动汽车采用的PPM框架。此外，它有助于理解消费者在转向电动汽车方面的特定技术和心理偏好。