The Transition to New Energy Sources in Passenger Car Traffic: An Economic Analysis for Germany (ECO-CARS)

• Data type: interview responses – Discrete Choice Experiment, Scientific Use Files: factually anonymized
• Keywords: hypothetical car buying situation, choice sets, experiment

The ECO-Cars survey was a one-off activity to collect information on the role of ecological features of cars for buying decisions of car buyers. The survey was conducted on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and examines the preferences of car buyers for alternative fuel types or propulsion technologies in cars and particularly for electric cars. The data stems from Computer Assisted Personal Interviews (CAPI) which were conducted in selected car dealerships and technical inspection agencies (TÜV) between August 2007 and March 2008 in 35 towns and municipalities across Germany. 598 potential car buyers - i.e. German residents with valid drivers’ licenses who intend or could imagine buying a car in the near future - were interviewed. The main part of the survey referred to a stated preference discrete choice experiment with respect to the hypothetical buying situation. In the experiment each respondent answered six choice sets. The intention was to stimulate a future car buying situation and thus to include all fuel types and propulsion technologies that are currently available in Germany and probably important in the future.