Exploring incentives to promote electric vehicles diffusion under subsidy abolition: An evolutionary analysis on multiplex consumer social networks.

With the abolition of the purchase subsidies for electric vehicles (EVs) in China commencing from 2023, expanding the incentive policy system has become a priority. In the absence of subsidies, different types of information from multiple dimensions become important references for EV adoption, which were rarely studied. To fill the gap, we developed an evolutionary model based on multiplex networks to analysis the effectiveness of different types of policies based on consumers' dynamic decisions. Furthermore, different interaction mechanisms were constructed to examine the influence of information dimensions of EV quantity and evaluations. Our results show that: (1) The value retention rate of EVs exerts a significant impact on the adoption rate. (2) Restricting the purchase and driving of traditional vehicles can stimulate the diffusion of EVs. However, due to crowding-out effect, no better policy effect can be achieved when both policies are strictly implemented. (3) The behavioral information possesses a dual impact. Demonstration policies can enhance adoption by improving consumers' perception of the number of EVs. Education and publicity can promote the adoption by enhancing consumers' evaluation. (4) Compared with the evaluation information, the quantity of EVs is more reliable, which also reflects the subtle influence of the environment. • A dynamic consumer decision model based on two-layer multiplex networks. • The dynamics between consumer behavior and preference are considered. • Social information in the two dimensions of electric vehicles quantity and evaluation. • Alternative incentive policy systems beyond subsidies. • Policies based on economic value perception and social information interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]