The barriers, determinants, and willingness-to-pay in electric motorcycle conversion (EMC) adoption

The rise in motorcycle use in Southeast Asian countries like Indonesia has caused environmental issues and transitioning from fossil-fuel to electric motorcycles (EM) will reduce emissions and improve air quality. This study aims to investigate the barriers, determinants, and willingness-to-pay in electric motorcycle conversion (EMC). In a choice experiment, data from motorcycle users in Bali, Indonesia, was collected and analysed in this study using K-modes cluster analysis and the Mixed-Logit Model. The study identified different barriers to EMC among motorcyclist groups: mix-motor commuters and hardcore oldies concerned with financial challenges, all-day riders with mature motorcycles face a lack of information on EMC costs and procedures, and higher-power enthusiasts and newbies with light motorcycles concerned with daily travel disruptions during the conversion process. This study also found waiting and conversion time to play a role in EM adoption and travellers who use older motorcycles are the most likely to adopt EMC. Lower-income individuals tend to be more inclined towards EMC and younger demographics lean towards internal combustion engine (ICE) motorcycles. Moreover, the study indicates that EMC reduces the adoption of ICE motorcycles more than conventional EM. A 50% increase in conversion time lowers EMC adoption probability by 5.2%pts. and increases new ICE motorcycle adoption by 3%pts. and new EM adoption by 2.2%pts. Additionally, motorcyclists are more willing to invest in EMC if it means reducing conversion time/charging costs, particularly for older motorcycles. This study offers several policy recommendations for accelerating EMC adoption in Indonesia.