Old habits die hard? The fragility of eco-driving mental models and why green driving behaviour is difficult to sustain

Abstract

consumption in several studies. However, the effects of such tools are often short-lived or dependent on continuous cues. Several studies found that many drivers already possess eco-driving mental-H T was to investigate the re-driving mental models following engagement with a workload task, implemented as a simplified version of the Twenty Questions Task (TQT). Would drivers d? A driving simulator experiment was conducted whereby 15 participants first performed a baseline drive, and then in a second session were prompted to drive fuel-efficiently. In each drive, the participants drove with and without completing the TQT. The results of two-way ANOVAs and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests support that they drive more slowly and keep a more stable speed when asked to eco-drive. However, these effects cannot be clearly isolated from each other. Driving and the workload task possibly invoked unrelated thoughts, causing eco-driving mental models to be deactivated. Future research is needed to explore ways to activate existing knowledge and skills and to use reminders at regular intervals, so new driver behaviours can be proceduralised and automatised and thus changed sustainably.

Effective and Acceptable Eco-Driving Guidance for Human-Driving Vehicles: A Review

“…Considering safety issues, current research utilizes driving simulators for experiments (for example, [ 53 , 63 , 64 , 80 , 81 , 101 ]). However, due to short driving distances, testing durations, and limited traffic scenarios, the driving simulator may not be able to record enough influencing factors that reflect both inner motivation and learning progress with regard to eco-driving behaviour.…”

“…Since eco-driving is not an automatized, natural, or “everyday” driving style [ 81 ], drivers maintaining eco-driving behaviour instead of returning to their “old habits” is essential for the training to have a sustainable environmental benefit. Several studies compared short-term behavioural changes with long-term driving habits [ 28 , 35 , 82 ], demonstrating a fading effect of the training along the time span.…”

“…The reduction in fuel consumption on arterials became 2.5% after ten months, compared to 4.6% immediately after the session. In addition, interruptions during driving can also lead to inconsistent eco-driving behaviour, stressing the difficulties of maintaining the training effect [ 81 ]. These studies pose challenges in encouraging drivers to continuously adopt eco-driving behaviour after the guidance, which is crucial in retaining environmental benefits from behavioural changes.…”

Know-how or know-why? The role of hybrid electric vehicle drivers' acquisition of eco-driving knowledge for eco-driving success

“…To select an eco-driving strategy (i.e., one or more target system states), eco-driving knowledge is used. It can be conceptualized that all available eco-driving strategies are mentally represented in a strategy knowledge base (like schemata or mental models, see Pampel et al, 2018;Plant and Stanton, 2013;Revell and Stanton, 2014) together with a subjective evaluation of the influence of each strategy on energy efficiency (see Franke et al, 2016). The perceived usefulness of this strategy knowledge base to achieve higher energy efficiency can be summarized as perceived strategy knowledge.…”

Real‐time predictive eco‐driving assistance considering road geometry and long‐range radar measurements

“…As well as improving fuel efficiency beyond that achievable by drivers alone, these assistance systems can induce learning effects in drivers to further promote more economical driving [6]. This is particularly promising for long‐term reduction efforts, as eco‐driving behaviours are reported as easy to adopt by drivers [7], but difficult to maintain long‐term without regular feedback as drivers fall back into old habits [8].…”