Powered two-wheelers for sustainable mobility: A review of consumer adoption of electric motorcycles

Abstract

In many countries, urbanization has seen a rapid increase in demand for mobility in cities. Much of this demand is met by private vehicles, of which conventionally powered two-wheelers significantly contribute to air pollution. The consumer adoption of alternative fuel powered two-wheelers has not been the subject of as much study as passenger cars. In particular, studies of consumer adoption of electric motorcycles, which are a rapidly emerging and an environmentally more sustainable alternative to conventional powered two-wheelers, are few. This study explores the extent of this research gap. The development of motorcycles is analyzed with a focus on Asia, which accounts for 80% of the global fleet. Powered two-wheelers are categorized in terms of regulatory, fuel and technical aspects. Studies of the adoption of electric motorcycles are reviewed. Operational models and deployment in ownership-based or access-based economical models are discussed. An overview of the research methods that are used in existing studies of electric motorcycles is given and the results and their implications are discussed. These findings provide a useful insight for future research, for transportation managers and for policymakers.

Keywords:

• Consumer adoption
• electric motorcycles
• literature review
• powered two-wheelers
• PTW typology

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the grant (MOST 105-2410-H-009-062-MY3) from the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan. The National Chiao Tung University provided financial support for the first author, which is gratefully acknowledged. Prior to and throughout its composition, this article has greatly benefited from discussions with and feedback from Abraham Leung, we thank him/her for the continued support and generous sharing of insights and ideas. The authors also thank Shu-Chiu Liu for providing valuable advice on the improvement of an earlier version of the manuscript. Finally, the authors wish to thank four anonymous referees for their valuable and constructive comments to improve the quality of this paper.