Author(s): Praveen S K, Sanju Rani, Rakshita M. Allappanavar, Ganesha K S, Srijan Anant and Shashank S V
Incentive driven adoption models dominate electric vehicle (EV) policy discourse, yet little is known about how consumers respond when such incentives are withdrawn. This impact of withdrawal is need of the hour in developing economies and price-sensitive vehicle segments. This study investigates electric two-wheeler adoption intention in Bangalore following a government subsidy reduction. Drawing on the Theory of Planned Behavior and Diffusion of Innovation frameworks, and using survey of 103 potential adopters, we test relative influence of psychological (environmental concern, novelty seeking) and policy (subsidy, non-financial incentives) factors. Results from regression analysis reveal that environmental concern (β = 0.30, p < 0.01) and novelty seeking (β = 0.27, p < 0.05) are significant predictors of adoption intention, while subsidy withdrawal and non-financial incentives are not. These findings challenge conventional assumptions about financial dependency in EV markets and suggest that behavioral and attitudinal levers may play a more durable role than price-based interventions. The study contributes to EV policy design by highlighting the need to move beyond subsidy- centric models toward strategies grounded in behavioral sustainability and consumer innovation orientation.