Company car drivers' preference for alternative fuel vehicles

Limited driving ranges, long recharging/refuelling times and a limited number of recharging/refuelling opportunities are largely responsible for this fact. The preference for alternative fuel vehicles increases considerably if these aspects were to be improved, especially for hybrid and flexifuel cars. Because of the current company car tax system in the Netherlands, which favours cleaner technologies, these two car types are even preferred over those with conventional technology, assuming equal catalogue prices and personal monthly cost contributions. Comparing these results against those from a similar stated choice experiment held among private car owners has shown that the patterns of people's willingness to pay for AFV improvements with regard to driving range, recharging/refuelling times, fuel availability and diversity in AFV supply, differ considerably between company car drivers and private owners. Company car and private drivers may therefore react (very) differently to future improvements in AFV technology and fuel availability. The paper finally shows that the preference of company car drivers for fuel cell and electric cars largely depends on annual mileage. Market share simulations show that potential early adopters of electric and fuel cell cars would be people with a relatively low annual mileage.