ABSTRACT
To meet aggressive transportation-electrification goals, electric-vehicle (EV) sales must expand deeper into mainstream markets. To address equity concerns, EV sales must go beyond the mainstream to increase access to EV benefits. To support needed expansion in sales and equity, this research examined the characteristics of California consumers that claimed the statewide rebate for EVs purchased/leased in 2017–2020. It weighted n = 32,524 survey responses to represent N = 193,167 rebate recipients and focused on 2020 adoption, trends over time, and differences between consumers of battery and plug-in hybrid EVs. Importantly, incentive-recipient characteristics were compared using Market-Majority Metrics to those of California new-vehicle buyers as a more appropriate baseline. Results raise the possibility that findings about the equity of EV-rebate-recipient incomes based upon comparisons to Census data could largely and more simply be findings about new-car buying, rather than particular to EV-incentive recipients. Rebate-recipient incomes continued to progress toward the mainstream despite the dominance of Tesla consumers and COVID. The distribution of rebate funding by income is now roughly comparable to new-vehicle buyers. Indeed, fewer rebated PHEV consumers (52%) had household incomes greater than $100,000 than even new-vehicle buyers (56%). Except for age, PHEV consumers are more similar to typical vehicle buyers than BEV consumers are. The characteristics most distinguishing of EV consumers are now home ownership and male sex/gender identification. Market-Majority Metric "heat map tables” are developed as an intuitive but quantitative tool to highlight the length of the road ahead EV markets must travel toward the mainstream and beyond to priority populations.
ABSTRACT
Background: Immunization has been one of the most successful public health measures ever undertaken. However, a degree of hesitancy about vaccine use still exists. Healthcare professionals are in a unique position to provide advice and education to the public and may influence the decision to undergo immunization. Objective: The aim of this study was to explore perceptions and beliefs regarding immunizations and immunization-preventable diseases. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was undertaken at the Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University, located in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a survey of 564 Saudi undergraduate healthcare students was conducted. 77.8% of participants replied (439). Information was collected regarding perceptions of; severity of immunization-preventable diseases, contracting these diseases, immunization safety, and immunization beliefs. The statistical analysis was performed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (IBM SPSS v25). Non-parametric analyses were utilized. Descriptive data were generated as appropriate, including frequencies, median, and inter-quartile range. Statistical relationships of demographic variables were explored using Kruskal Wallis H-Test and Spearman's Rank-Order Correlation. A p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Meningitis was perceived as the most severe disease and COVID-19 as having the highest likelihood of infection. Concern regarding vaccine side effects was most evident for the COVID-19 vaccine. Student year level and profession resulted in statistically significant differences for all three assessed perceptions. Substantial differences were also identified regarding views on immunization belief statements. Conclusion: This study identified considerable heterogeneity in Saudi healthcare students' perceptions and beliefs regarding immunization-preventable diseases and vaccination. Further education is required to produce well-informed and confident healthcare professionals around these issues.