The Impact of the Expected Utility and Experienced Utility Gap on Electric Vehicle Repurchase Intention in Jiangsu, China

The global automotive industry’ s rapid transformation has led to electric vehicles (EVs) capturing a significant market share as a sustainable transportation option. To sustain this growth, it is crucial to not only attract new users but also retain existing ones through repurchases. This decision is shaped by both vehicle attributes and users’ prior experiences. This study examines the impact of five dimensions of expected utility and experienced utility gap (including cost utility, functional utility, emotional utility, environmental utility, and social utility) on the repurchase intentions of 863 Chinese EV users. Discrete choice experiments were used to analyze these factors, considering both vehicle and personal attributes. The results show that when emotional utility exceeds expectations, users are more likely to repurchase pure electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. However, if environmental and social utilities fall short of expectations, users may be discouraged from choosing these two vehicle types. In contrast, decisions regarding gasoline vehicles are primarily driven by economic and habitual factors, with minimal influence from emotional, environmental, or social utilities. Additionally, EV users show a preference for medium-sized models that offer shorter charging times and longer driving ranges. These findings offer insights for enhancing consumer acceptance, accelerating EV market penetration, and supporting the automotive industry’s sustainable development, thereby contributing to the achievement of environmental sustainability goals.