Electric Cars Have Greenest Image, Says Online Survey

Alibaba.com Japan Co., a member of Alibaba Group, which runs a business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce website, released the results of its survey on environment-friendly vehicles on January 6, 2009. According to the survey, electric vehicles ranked highest as having the most eco-friendly image, nominated by 41.7 percent of respondents. While 150 of them said that they were interested in buying an electric car, 50.7 percent of those said they would be ready to purchase one only if priced under two million yen (about U.S.$22,000).

The online survey was conducted between December 9 and 11, 2008, and targeted private vehicle owners nationwide, both male and female, in their twenties to fifties. A total of 300 responses were received, with an even split between males and females. After electric cars, they ranked hybrid vehicles second, at 26.0 percent, and hydrogen-powered vehicles third at 23.7 percent.

In Japan, full-fledged marketing of electric vehicles is expected to start this year, and the basic conditions are being prepared for their broad use. In this context, the survey indicated almost all respondents knew about electric vehicles and 63.7 percent showed interest. At the same time, 50.7 percent of the 150 respondents who replied they would like to purchase an electric car said that the right price was key, which means this will be an issue to address in order for electric vehicle sales to grow in the near future.

Posted: 2009/05/13 06:00:15 AM