What Really Moves People to Buy Electric Cars? Lessons from Germany, Italy, and Norway

Pallid Dove

11-11-2025

That is what one calls: the master practices wu wei (non-action), the workers practice you wei (action). Wu wei attains everything; you wei attains nothing.
Isn’t that precisely what Zhuangzi always teaches?

In Kingfisherish Wandering [1]

© Wix

Electric cars promise cleaner air and climate benefits [2,3]—but what actually persuades people to buy one? The cross-country study of Schiaroli and Fraccascia [4] surveyed 737 consumers in Germany, Italy, and Norway and tested a Theory of Planned Behavior model extended with real-world factors such as range anxiety, incentives, and direct experience [5]. Using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling, the authors identified what most strongly shapes purchase intentions for battery electric vehicles (BEVs).

The biggest positive driver is hedonic motivation—the fun, quiet, high-torque driving experience—followed by ascription of responsibility, subjective norms, perceived ease of use, and direct experience (e.g., test drives, car sharing). In contrast, range anxiety is the strongest negative force. Surprisingly, environmental concern also shows a negative association with purchase intention in the pooled model, and government incentives are not significant once other factors are considered (model fit indices indicate good fit).

Norwegians report higher perceived ease of use, stronger subjective norms, lower range anxiety, and higher purchase intentions than Germans and Italians, aligning with Norway’s mature EV ecosystem. Italians score highest on environmental concern and responsibility but still face higher anxiety and lower intentions than Norwegians, underscoring that values alone do not close the adoption gap. Multi-group tests show hedonic motivation matters in all three countries, with a stronger effect in Italy; age positively predicts intention in Norway but not in Germany.

NQ—ecological intelligence expressed as pro-nature values and habits—grows when people feel, see, and practice sustainable options. The study suggests that enjoyable first-hand experiences (hedonics, ease of use) and social reinforcement (subjective norms) help internalize pro-environmental behaviors more reliably than abstract concern alone [6,7]. Policies and marketing that expand trusted direct experiences (test-drive programs, car-sharing EV fleets), reduce psychological frictions (clear range information, dense visible fast-charging), and leverage community norms can lift NQ while accelerating equitable, peace-promoting mobility transitions.

References

[1] Nguyen MH. (2025). Kingfisherish Wandering. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FVLLLXNW/

[2] Salari N. (2022). Electric vehicles adoption behaviour: synthesising the technology readiness index with environmentalism values and instrumental attributes. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 164, 60-81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2022.07.009

[3] Zamil AM, et al. (2023). The consumer purchase intention toward hybrid electric car: a utilitarian-hedonic attitude approach. Frontiers in Environmental Science, 11, 1101258. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2023.1101258

[4] Schiaroli V, Fraccascia L. (2026). Driving the change: How do personal factors and socio-economic context influence electric vehicles adoption across Europe? Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 58, 101044. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2025.101044

[5]  Shalender K, Sharma N. (2021). Using extended theory of planned behaviour (TPB) to predict adoption intention of electric vehicles in India Environ. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 23(1), 665-681. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-020-00602-7

[6] Tran TT. (2025). Flying beyond didacticism: The creative environmental vision of ‘Wild Wise Weird’. Young Voices of Science. https://youngvoicesofscience.org/?p=1963

[7] Vuong QH, Nguyen MH, La VP. (2022). The mindsponge and BMF analytics for innovative thinking in social sciences and humanities. Walter de Gruyter GmbH.