Tailored emails prompt electric vehicle owners to engage with tariff switching information

Nicolson, Moira; Huebner, Gesche M.; Shipworth, David; Elam, Simon

doi:10.1038/nenergy.2017.73

Cited by 31 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…People increasingly adopt smart energy technologies, such as photovoltaic solar panels and electric vehicles (EV), to produce, use and store energy from renewable sources (Eurostat, 2017; European Automobile Manufacturers Association, 2017). Smart energy technologies can significantly reduce fossil energy use and emissions of greenhouse gases provided that people not only accept and adopt such technologies (Steg, Perlaviciute, & Van der Werff, 2015;Noppers, Keizer, Milovanovic, & Steg, 2016), but also use them in a sustainable way (Nicolson, Huebner, Shipworth, & Elam, 2017). For example, the CO 2 emission reductions achieved by driving an EV rather than a car with an internal combustion engine will be much larger when the EV is charged with energy produced from renewable energy sources rather than by a coal-fired power plant (Bradley & Frank, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond purchasing: Electric vehicle adoption motivation and consistent sustainable energy behaviour in The Netherlands

Peters¹,

Werff²,

Steg³

2018

Energy Research & Social Science

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Adoption of smart energy technologies, such as electric vehicles (EVs), can significantly reduce fossil energy use, provided that adopters of an EV also use the EV in a sustainable way. Hence, it is key to understand which factors affect the likelihood that the adoption of EVs promotes the sustainable use of EVs, and promote consistent sustainable energy behaviours. We argue that the motivation to adopt an EV plays a key role in this respect. When people adopt an EV for environmental reasons, this will signal that they are a proenvironmental person, thereby strengthening environmental self-identity and promoting consistent sustainable energy behaviours. We conducted two cross-sectional studies among EV adopters to test our reasoning. As expected, the more people adopted an EV for environmental reasons, the stronger their environmental self-identity, in turn increasing the likelihood that they engaged in other sustainable energy behaviours. In contrast, adopting an EV for financial or technological reasons was not consistently related to environmental selfidentity and sustainable energy behaviours. These results suggest that the motivation for adopting an EV is crucial for the likelihood that people engage in sustainable energy behaviour consistently, which is key to realise a sustainable energy transition.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond purchasing: Electric vehicle adoption motivation and consistent sustainable energy behaviour in The Netherlands

Peters¹,

Werff²,

Steg³

2018

Energy Research & Social Science

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“…However, a number of other trials [38][39][40] used similar recruitment methods and did not achieve these high enrolment rates so it is hard to explain why this programme was so successful and suggests it is best treated as an anomaly. However, as argued elsewhere [41], opt-out enrolment may not be the most appropriate recruitment strategy for TOU tariffs. For example, there may be public acceptability concerns around automatically switching people onto TOU tariffs, even if they can opt-out because people who do not realise they have been switched could face higher costs if they do not shift their electricity usage.…”

Section: Recruitment Strategies To Increase Uptake To Tou Tariffsmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…This is problematic because it means that it is not possible to identify whether differences in design or marketing are causally related to uptake. Where opt-out enrolment is politically unacceptable (due to public concern and the risk of some people losing money [41]), policymakers may prefer to leave consumers to opt-in to TOU tariff rates. This review therefore highlights the need for experimental research on how to encourage people to switch from a flat-rate tariff to a TOU which aims to encourage self-selection of consumers best suited to DSR whilst eliminating the major potential disadvantages of both opt-in (sub-optimal uptake) and opt-out (passive, uninformed decision making) methods.…”

Section: Next Steps For Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Consumer demand for time of use electricity tariffs - a systematized review of the empirical evidence

Nicolson¹,

Fell²,

Hubner³

2018

Preprint

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Time of use (TOU) tariffs, if widely adopted, could help make electricity more secure, clean and affordable. However, little is known about whether consumers will switch to a TOU tariff or what might increase uptake if switching rates are lower than required. This paper presents the results of a systematized review and meta-analysis combining the results of 66 measures of uptake to a variety of TOU tariffs across 27 studies conducted in six countries. It provides the first robust estimate of consumer demand and correlates of demand for TOU tariffs that is not based on the results from just a single study or tariff. Four main conclusions emerge. First, if consumers are left to opt-in to TOU tariffs, uptake could be as low as 1% unless efforts are made to close the intention-action gap, otherwise enrolment could reach 43%. Second, if enrolment is opt-out, uptake could approach 100%. Third, whilst national surveys indicate the potential appetite for TOU tariffs in a population, they are insufficient for predicting future TOU tariff adoption rates; the median proportion of domestic energy bill payers who say they would be willing to switch to a TOU tariff in national surveys is five times higher than the median enrolment rate to commercially available TOU tariffs. Fourth, real-time pricing tariffs, in which the price of electricity varies freely throughout the day, are less popular than static TOU tariffs which have fixed peak and off-peak rates. This paper discusses the limitations of opt-out enrolment for TOU tariffs and presents results suggesting that small upfront financial payments, bill protection and automation are promising alternative methods of increasing opt-in enrolment. Policymakers and researchers should now consider how recruitment will be performed, weighing up the benefits to society as a whole against the distributional impacts for individuals and groups.

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“…While increasingly work is considering potential for consumer participation in (and provision of) flexibility in the EV context (e.g. Cook, Churchwell, & George, 2014;Faruqui, Hledik, Levy, & Madian, 2011;M. Nicolson, Huebner, Shipworth, & Elam, 2017), more research is needed to understand drivers of participation and what could increase it (see also Sovacool, Noel, Axsen, & Kempton [2018]).…”

Section: Conclusion and Policy Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electric vehicle manufacturers' perceptions of the market potential for demand-side flexibility using electric vehicles in the United Kingdom

Earl

Fell

2019

Energy Policy

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While there is extensive research on the technical potential of electric vehicles (EVs) to provide electricity system flexibility, no work has sought to understand how EV manufacturers see their role in this transition. Here we present an interview study with 11 EV manufacturers active in the UK, determining their perceptions on the market potential for demand-side flexibility using EVs. Findings indicate manufacturers view significant potential in this market, but believe time is needed (i.e. in the 2020s) for the EV market to develop before there is enough system/consumer demand for flexibility using EVs. They believe better price signals are needed, and prefer a consumer-led approach (rather than, for example, mandatory smart charging). Most manufacturers recognise they have a role in making flexibility a viable offering, but for it to succeed it needs coordination with other players, notably energy suppliers, aggregators, network operators and consumers. Governments should have a role in encouraging and brokering such partnerships. There was little evidence of concern that network constraints resulting from multiple EVs charging on the same circuit could act as a brake on sales. We identify a risk that EV growth could outpace available infrastructure and flexibility market mechanisms, leading to grid management challenges.1 This is authors' version of the article: Earl, J., Fell, M.J., 2019. Electric vehicle manufacturers' perceptions of the market potential for demand-side flexibility using electric vehicles in the United Kingdom. Energy Policy 129, 646-652. https://doi.

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Tailored emails prompt electric vehicle owners to engage with tariff switching information

Cited by 31 publications

References 39 publications

Beyond purchasing: Electric vehicle adoption motivation and consistent sustainable energy behaviour in The Netherlands

Beyond purchasing: Electric vehicle adoption motivation and consistent sustainable energy behaviour in The Netherlands

Consumer demand for time of use electricity tariffs - a systematized review of the empirical evidence

Electric vehicle manufacturers' perceptions of the market potential for demand-side flexibility using electric vehicles in the United Kingdom

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