Abstract:

Several initiatives for the penetration of EVs in the automotive market have been implemented in various countries. Electric vehicles (EVs) gradually address the environmental problem in cities created by internal combustion vehicles. However, a significant challenge will still have to be tackled to be widely used. Some significant challenges are the resistance to new technologies and EVs’ purchase cost, which is significantly higher than internal combustion vehicles. These challenges are similar to the adoption of EVs for public transportation, such as buses and taxis. Thus, this paper proposes valuable insights into attitudes and preferences for taxi and bus users for the willingness to travel in EVs, by performing a convenience sampling, focusing especially on young users. Moreover, this study highlights the possibility of the users paying additional fees to travel in electric taxis (ETs) or electric buses (EBs). Pearson’s chi-squared analysis was also performed to validate the hypotheses. The results of this paper will be helpful for policymakers to analyze the proper planning of EVs for public transportation in a city like Quito.