On Customer Satisfaction of Battery Electric Vehicles Based on Kano Model: A Case Study in Shanghai

Abstract

Due to the greenhouse effect and limited energy resources, more and more countries and firms have put more attention to clean energy so as to reduce pollution emissions. The development of battery electric vehicle (BEV) becomes crucial to meet the government and society’s demands. As one new product with immature technology, there are many factors affecting the wide utilization of BEV. It is necessary to study customer satisfaction of BEV so as to distinguish customer needs, help find the way to improve customer satisfaction, and identify critical factors. Considering the non-linear relationship between product performance and customer satisfaction, the Kano model is used to analyze customer needs for the BEV so as to promote the adoption of BEV in Shanghai. Four approaches to Kano model are used to categorize the BEV attributes as must-be quality, one-dimensional quality, attractive quality and indifferent quality. According to the strategic rule $M>O>A>I$, the priorities of efforts towards promoting the adoption of BEV is identified, i.e., the government and vehicle firms have to fulfill all the must-be requirements. They should make great improvement of one-dimensional qualities to make the BEV competitive to the traditional motor vehicles. Finally, the customers will be very satisfied if the attractive requirements are fulfilled.