Which Is Preferred between Electric or Hydrogen Cars for Carbon Neutrality in the Commercial Vehicle Transportation Sector of South Korea? Implications from a Public Opinion Survey

Abstract

South Korea has drawn up plans to reduce greenhouse gases by 29.7 million tons by supplying 4.5 million electric and hydrogen cars by 2030 to implement the “2050 carbon neutrality” goal. This article gathers data on public preferences for electric cars (ECs) over hydrogen cars (HCs) in the commercial vehicle transportation sector through a survey of 1000 people. Moreover, the strength of the preference was evaluated on a five-point scale. Of all respondents, 60.0 percent preferred ECs and 21.0 percent HCs, the former being 2.86 times greater than the latter. On the other hand, the strength of the preference for HCs was 1.42 times greater than that for ECs. Factors influencing the preference for ECs over HCs were also explored through adopting the ordered probit model, which is useful in examining ordinal preference rather than cardinal preference. The analyzed factors, which are related to respondents’ characteristics, experiences, and perceptions, can be usefully employed for developing strategies of promoting carbon neutrality in the commercial vehicle transportation sector and preparing policies to improve public acceptance thereof.