Managing Conditional Electric Vehicle Adoption Intention in Malaysia: Evidence from Non-Owner Drivers

Abstract

Electric-vehicle (EV) adoption requires more than environmental awareness; potential users must also perceive that charging, financial, and technological conditions make ownership workable. This study examines conditional EV adoption intention among 384 Malaysian licensed drivers who did not own an EV. Four positively worded managerial conditions—infrastructure readiness, financial attractiveness, technological readiness, and environmental value—were assessed through a cross-sectional questionnaire. All four correlated positively with conditional adoption intention (r=.685 to .791, p<.001) and remained significant in a simultaneous regression that explained 72.7% of the variance in intention (R²=.727). Environmental value had the largest unstandardized coefficient (B = .380), ahead of financial attractiveness, infrastructure readiness, and technological readiness; notably, infrastructure readiness recorded the highest mean agreement but the weakest correlation with intention, suggesting a ceiling effect once reliable charging is treated as a baseline expectation rather than a differentiator. Managers and policymakers should therefore coordinate reliable charging, transparent total-cost propositions, credible technology assurances, and verifiable environmental value, with the last carrying particular weight. Because the outcome items explicitly describe improved conditions, the results represent conditional receptiveness rather than unconditional purchase intention or actual adoption.