Demographic, Social, Economic, and Regional Factors Affecting the Diffusion of Hybrid Electric Vehicles in Japan

Ken’ichi Matsumoto, Yui Nakamine, Sunyong Eom and Hideki Kato
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Ken’ichi Matsumoto: Faculty of Economics, Toyo University, Tokyo 112-8606, Japan
Yui Nakamine: Faculty of Environmental Science, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki 852-8521, Japan
Sunyong Eom: Center for Spatial Information Science, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa 277-8568, Japan
Hideki Kato: Toyota Transportation Research Institute, Toyota 471-0024, Japan

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 8, 1-14

Abstract: The transportation sector is a major contributor to carbon dioxide emissions, and the resulting climate change. The diffusion of alternative fuel vehicles, including hybrid electric vehicles (HEV), is an important solution for these issues. This study aimed to evaluate the factors affecting the ownership ratio of HEVs, particularly passenger vehicles, and the regional differences in the purchase of HEVs in Japan. This study performed a fixed-effects regression analysis with panel data for 47 prefectures during the period 2005–2015 to evaluate the factors affecting the HEV ownership ratio and conducted three cluster analyses to investigate the regional differences in diffusion in terms of price categories, body types, and drive systems of HEVs. Some demographic and social factors were found to affect the ownership ratio in Japan, whereas economic factors, including prefecture-level subsidies for purchasing HEVs, were not. Regarding regional differences, prefectures in urban areas with higher income levels tend to purchase more expensive and large-sized HEVs. These results suggest that a strategy to sell the right vehicle to the right person and region is essential for further promoting HEVs in Japan.

Keywords: hybrid electric vehicle; diffusion; fixed-effects regression analysis; cluster analysis; regional characteristics; Japan (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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