Abstract
Numerous reports, research papers and debate articles have discussed how we can construct incentives that make car buyers replace gasoline and diesel cars with cars that do not use fossil fuel. In the 1990s, when electric cars and electric hybrid cars were regarded as the most promising alternatives to gasoline and diesel, different theoretical models were developed describing how society could go about building markets for radically new car technologies that challenged well entrenched technologies. In this report we empirically test through analyzing the material from a questionnaire how two of these models can explain car owners’ beliefs and attitudes as regards electric cars and plug-in hybrid cars. The two theoretical models are Bijker’s (1995) model of social construction of technology (SCOT) and the model by Rosa, Porac et. al. (2000) on how producers and consumers through interaction create meaning of a new product category. The report also addresses the role that incentives so far have played to facilitate the market introduction of cars with alternative fuel technology in Sweden, and the magnitude of public financial aid in Sweden to the different categories of so called environmental cars (miljöbilar).