A Comprehensive Survey of the Key Determinants of Electric Vehicle Adoption: Challenges and Opportunities in the Smart City Context

This comprehensive state-of-the-art literature review investigates the status of the electric vehicle (EV) market share and the key factors that affect EV adoption with a focus on the shared vision of vehicle electrification and the smart city movement. Investigating the current scenarios of EVs, this study observes a rapid increase in the number of EVs and charging stations in different parts of the world. It reports that people’s socio-economic features (e.g., age, gender, income, education, vehicle ownership, home ownership, and political affiliation) significantly influence EV adoption. Moreover, factors such as high driving range, fuel economy, safety technology, financial incentives, availability of free charging stations, and the capacity of EVs to contribute to decarbonization emerge as key motivators for EV purchases. The literature also indicates that EVs are predominantly used for short-distance travel and users commonly charge their vehicles at home. Most users prefer fast chargers and maintain a high state of charge (SOC) to avoid unforeseen situations. Despite the emergent trend, there is a disparity in charging infrastructure supply compared to the growing demand. Thus, there is a pressing need for more public charging stations to meet the surging charging demand. The integration of smart charging stations equipped with advanced technologies to optimize charging patterns based on energy demand, grid capacity, and people’s demand can help policymakers leverage the smart city movement. This paper makes valuable contributions to the literature by presenting a conceptual framework articulating the factors of EV adoption, outlying their role in achieving smart cities, suggesting policy recommendations to integrate EVs into smart cities, and proposing suggestions for future research directions.