Decision Analytics Journal 4 (2022) 100119

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Decision Analytics Journal

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/dajour

An integrated Principal Component Analysis and Interpretive Structural

Modeling approach for electric vehicle adoption decisions in sustainable
transportation systems
Tanmoy Palit a , A.B.M. Mainul Bari a ,∗, Chitra Lekha Karmaker b
a
Department of Industrial and Production Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh
b
Department of Industrial and Production Engineering, Jashore University of Science and Technology, Jashore, Bangladesh

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Keywords: The rapid growth of the global economy and advanced technology has modernized our life, but it has taken
Electric vehicles its toll on ecology and environmental sustainability. Over the last few decades, the world has experienced
Sustainable transportation increased emissions of toxic gases, severe global warming, and ambient air pollution. Mass dependency on
Principal Component Analysis
internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles is rightfully criticized for increasing air pollution, jeopardizing
Interpretive Structural Modeling
societal health outcomes, and perpetuating the use of fossil fuels-all of which threaten sustainable development.
Environmental pollution
Amid this situation, to ensure economic and social growth as well as help to achieve sustainable development
goals (SDGs) by improving energy security, electric vehicles (EVs) are the green alternatives to conventional
high-emission vehicles. To successfully promote EV adoption and diffusion in emerging economies, the key
drivers that may foster the adoption process must be identified and evaluated. However, there exists a
conspicuous literature gap in this domain. This study presents an intelligent multi-criteria decision-making
(MCDM) approach, integrating Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM),
and Cross-Impact Matrix Multiplication Applied to Classification (MICMAC) to identify, examine, and classify
the drivers of successful adoption of EVs in the emerging economies. Based on the literature review and expert
feedback, a total of seventeen drivers were identified and later prioritized by using PCA. The top twelve drivers
have been further analyzed using ISM-MICMAC to examine their interrelationships. The findings reveal that
vehicle performance and reliability, adequate power and charging infrastructure, and government policies are
the most influential factors for EV adoption. Finally, this study offers several managerial implications and
prospects, which may aid governments and the automotive sectors in taking strategic measures to capture this
booming market and pursue more EV customers for a sustainable future.

1. Introduction
Development of sustainable transportation system has been in the
center of interest in research over the last few decades due to increased
economic and environmental awareness. Transportation sector is the
second-largest source of carbon dioxide (CO2 ) and greenhouse gas
(GHG) emissions to the atmosphere, thanks to the widespread use of
fossil fuels. Petroleum-based vehicles consume around 17% of hydro-
carbon fuel worldwide and are liable for 23% of all CO2 emissions
into the atmosphere [1]. EVs are considered a viable option for a
sustainable urban transportation system by decreasing oil dependency
and pollution, as well as providing possible health and environmen-
tal advantages [2]. The mass diffusion of EVs is expected to bring
revolutionary changes not only in the use of technologies we adopt
for personal transportation, but also will boost up the economic gear
and ensure a sustainable planet. This mode of transportation is easy
to maintain, and users can enjoy less noise and vibration-free rides
compared to traditional automobiles.
EVs are automobiles that have rechargeable batteries and can be
charged with energy from a power source. Widespread adoption of
EVs can pave the way for a drastic reduction in CO2 emissions and
air pollution globally [3] and thus can have a major contribution to
help emerging economies around the world stay on track to meet their
shared climate goals. Apart from the environmental benefits, when
compared to vehicles powered by ICE, EVs have several advantages,
including lower operating costs, less interior noise and vibration, bet-
ter low-speed acceleration, convenient charging systems, zero tailpipe
emissions, etc. [4] and can also provide a major boost to the economic
and industrial competitiveness by attracting investments in the emerg-
ing economy countries. As a result, several governments have identified
large-scale adoption of EVs as one of their strategic options for meeting

∗ Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: tanmoypalit11@gmail.com (T. Palit), mainul.ipe@gmail.com (A.B.M.M. Bari), k.chitroleka@just.edu.bd (C.L. Karmaker).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dajour.2022.100119
Received 21 June 2022; Received in revised form 5 August 2022; Accepted 28 August 2022
Available online 1 September 2022
2772-6622/© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
T. Palit, A.B.M.M. Bari and C.L. Karmaker
the global climate target of 2.0 degrees Celsius reduction [5]. Recently,
eight major nations – Canada, China, France, Japan, Norway, Sweden,
the United Kingdom, and the United States of America – have decided
to raise the share of EVs in their own government fleets through a dec-
laration at the Marrakech Climate Change Conference as a significant
step towards reducing GHG in the transportation and logistics sector
[6]. The global vehicle industry is, thereby, experiencing a paradigm
shift, with a focus on clean and sustainable energy alternatives.
The major cities of most emerging economies are subjected to a high
amount of air and sound pollution. Heavy reliance on fossil fuels in
the ICE-based transportation sector is one of the main reasons behind
that. Over the past three decades, like other emerging economies,
Bangladesh has experienced a drastic increase in pollution linked to in-
creased urbanization, rapid growth in industrialization and an increase
in urban population. The country has been placed fourth among the
top ten countries with the highest ozone exposure and eleventh among
the top seventeen countries for household air pollution exposure [7].
The negative consequences of air pollution can lead to susceptibility to
respiratory conditions such as influenza and pneumonia, lung cancer
and can wreak havoc on the human body, with a massive death toll.
Bangladesh has been experiencing an alarming increase in deaths due
to ambient air pollution in recent years. Approximately, 173,500 people
were lost in 2019 because of air pollution, which is over 50,000 more
than the year 2017 [8]. One of the prominent culprits of air pollution is
the country’s widespread use of automobiles, motorcycles, and trucks,
many of which are not subject to strict regulations about the efficiency
of their engines or the fuels they use [9]. Mass dependency on ICE
vehicles is rightfully criticized for increasing air pollution, jeopardizing
societal health outcomes, and perpetuating the use of fossil fuels —
all of which threaten Bangladesh’s efforts to attain SDGs. Reducing
transport-related emissions by adopting clean and reliable mobility so-
lutions will assist policymakers to undertake a sustainable development
strategy to safeguard climate change and its adverse impact (SDG 13).
Coupling with renewable energy sources, electric mobility can help to
tackle air pollution (SDG 7), promote sustainable city and community
development (SDG 11), ensure human wellbeing (SDG 3) and so on. So,
Bangladesh needs to introduce EVs to its population as a sustainable
transportation mode that does not have a significant negative impact
on the environment.
Bangladesh’s booming population and purchasing power, along with
the government’s concern about the environment, are now acceler-
ating and enhancing the possibilities of EV deployment across the
country. According to multiple sources, the Bangladesh government
is planning to shift more towards EVs, making it the country’s major
transportation mode. Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) and
several private ventures are working together to import and build
multiple facilities in various economic zones to produce EVs locally
[9]. Successful adoption of electric mobility is not very easy task in
the context of emerging economies. To make this transition successful,
it is necessary to identify the drivers that may push customers more
towards EVs, compared to its less sustainable alternatives.
Recently, several researchers have explored topics like renewable
energy usage in EVs, EVs charging stations and its setup challenges,
impacts of EV charging on electric grid, challenges to expand EVs [10–
15], and so on. However, research works based on qualitative and
quantitative methods, integrating key drivers to promote sustainable
mobility in the context of the emerging economies have not been ex-
plored yet. To bridge the above-mentioned research gaps, the following
research questions (RQs) are investigated in this study:
RQ1: What are the key drivers for the successful adoption of EVs in
the context of emerging economy?
RQ2: How can these drivers be evaluated to promote electric mo-
bility?
RQ3: What are the contextual connections among them?
Exploring the RQs, this study develops an intelligent approach to
identify and cluster the drivers for the successful introduction and
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Decision Analytics Journal 4 (2022) 100119
adoption of EVs towards achieving SDGs in an emerging economy
— Bangladesh, and later explores the contextual relationships among
the identified drivers. Here, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and
Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM), with Cross-Impact Matrix Mul-
tiplication Applied to Classification (MICMAC) methods have been
utilized to achieve the objectives. First, the relevant drivers were
identified through literature review of related articles. After that, PCA
was applied to convert the correlated drivers into a smaller set of
uncorrelated variables and finally to rank them for factor reduction.
In the final phase, to check the causal interactions among the drivers
or drivers, ISM was applied. MICMAC analysis was also performed later
to classify the drivers into different clusters based on their dependence
and driving power.
The effectiveness of this paper lies in the fact that, with a thor-
ough assessment of EVs adoption drivers, this research offers multiple
theoretical and practical implications to the available literature in the
field of sustainable transportation. Existing articles mostly addressed
specific aspects of EVs adoption [16–18], whereas this study focuses
on incorporating the psychological, sociological, and technical fea-
tures into a unified platform. It is a novel approach of combining
multi-criteria decision-making methods with statistical analysis with
a view to producing a comprehensive summary to the factors that
may facilitate taking EVs adoption decision, because the contextual
relationships between the driving factors aid in formulating strategies
towards successful EVs adoption. Thus, this research is expected to
guide policymakers and industrial leaders to undertake measures con-
sidering the identified drivers, which will ultimately lead to increased
profitability, sustainable development, and human wellbeing. Further-
more, currently available literatures are predominantly conducted in
developed countries, whose results are not suitable enough for eco-
nomically developing nations. The world’s developing nations confront
challenges that are malapropos to industrialized nations, such as low
real per capita income, rapid population growth, technological back-
wardness, lack of infrastructure, etc. Since this research was conducted
in a developing economy context and included top academicians and
executives with relevant field experiences, the outcomes of this study
are not only limited to the case country Bangladesh and but also are
applicable to other emerging economies, who share similar economic
standing and similar constraints. Thus, this research provides signifi-
cant theoretical and practical implications for developing nations to
take decisions regarding the adoption of electric vehicles in sustainable
transport networks.
The remainder of this paper is structured as follows: Section 2
conceptualizes the theoretical background on EVs adoption, the current
scenario, and the key drivers of EVs adoption. Section 3 discusses the
research design, applied techniques, and analysis. Section 4 discusses
the results obtained from this research. The implications of the research
are discussed in Section 5. Finally, Section 6 draws the conclusion, and
discusses some future research directions.
2. Literature review
Following the objectives of the study, EVs adoption the present sce-
nario, the research gaps and contributions, and significant key drivers
to implementing EVs mode have been highlighted in this section.
2.1. EVs adoption and present scenario
The transportation systems of the emerging economies are currently
heavily reliant on fossil fuels [19,20]. A variety of conventional ICE
vehicles that use a considerable quantity of hydrocarbon fuels such as
Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), Octane, Petrol, Diesel etc. dominate
the roads of emerging economy counties. Public buses, trucks, private
vehicles, motorbikes, taxis, and three-wheeler autos are the most used
modes of transportation there. The rapid growth of the economy has
seen a surge in the purchase of personal automobiles and motorcycles
T. Palit, A.B.M.M. Bari and C.L. Karmaker
over the last decade. In Bangladesh, ridesharing services such as Uber
and Pathao increased the use of motor vehicles in the capital city Dhaka
and are expanding their reach in other parts of the country. Notably,
these vehicles are mostly driven by fossil fuels, and burning these fuels
creates a substantial amount of CO2 that is released into the atmosphere
daily. Over the past three decades, Bangladesh has experienced a dra-
matic increase in pollution [9]. Dhaka is already experiencing increased
temperatures from rising levels of vehicular exhaust emissions, fumes
from factories, dust accumulations from different sources, and excessive
use of air conditioning. It has become the second most polluted capital
in the world according to the 2021 World Air Quality Report by IQAir
[21]. The amount of particulate matter, referred to as PM2.5, was
76.9 micrograms per cubic meter (μg/m3 ) which is 15 times greater
than the limit set by the World Health Organization (WHO) [7]. The
transportation sector of Bangladesh is responsible for roughly 58.6
percent of all NO2 and 40.5 percent of total CO2 emissions yearly [8].
However, during the past few years, there has been an increase
in the use of electric rickshaws and three-wheelers in most parts of
the country. Recently, the government has targeted the transportation
sector to achieve a GHG reduction target of 8.86% by 2030, using
current and proposed initiatives to achieve a sustainable transportation
system [22]. Towards sustainable urban development and achieving
SDGs, several initiatives have been undertaken such as enhancing the
use of low-emission transportation systems, encouraging the use of elec-
tric and hybrid vehicles, building adequate charging station networks,
promoting electric buses in key cities, electrifying the railway system,
promoting reliable and sustainable energy usage and so on [21].
Bangladesh’s EV market is still in its infancy. At present, BRTA
is drafting a strategy to speed up the import, local production, and
registration of EVs across the country. In Mirsarai economic zone,
Bangladesh Auto Industries Limited (BAIL) is constructing the country’s
first-ever electric car plant, with plans to produce a wide range of
vehicles, including two- and three-wheelers, sedans, hatchbacks, SUVs,
and pickup trucks. Several other major corporations have also declared
their intentions to build local EV production factories. Moving on to
the public transportation system, Bangladesh Road Transport Corpo-
ration (BRTC) has already announced the launch of 50 electric buses
that would travel long-distance routes such as Dhaka–Chattogram.
Additional focus is also placed on initiatives for encouraging electric
transportation research and development, as well as ensuring availabil-
ity of important components such as batteries and charging stations,
which are critical in facilitating easy access to electric cars and compo-
nents in the country and promoting proper growth and development of
this sector.
2.2. Related works, research gaps and contribution
Recently, EVs have drawn huge global attention due to their salient
potential to become viable and sustainable alternatives to conventional
cars, targeting reduced fossil fuel reliance [23]. Its mass diffusion will
encourage economic and social growth as well as help to build smart
and sustainable communities by improving energy security, reliability,
lowering GHG emissions, and boosting climate-saving activities [5].
These actions will ultimately assist policymakers and world leaders to
achieve some of the SDGs. Due to these benefits, EVs have become a
major focus in the transportation sector worldwide and thus, attracting
researchers to explore various aspects of EVs in their study, including
key technologies [4,24,25], acceptance model [26,27], battery man-
agement systems [28,29], energy consumption [30–32], identification
of the barriers [15,33] and so on. Studies related to exploring the
driving factors for EVs adoption have also been popularized, since
before successful implementation proper identification and hierarchical
position of these factors are essential. Liu et al. [34] highlighted the
critical factors influencing the diffusion of EVs considering the multi-
stakeholder perspective in the context of the Chinese market. The
authors applied the 2-tuple linguistic method and decision-making trial
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Decision Analytics Journal 4 (2022) 100119
and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) for prioritizing the critical fac-
tors. Another study was conducted in the same context using different
theories and explored the attributes for promoting consumers’ purchase
of EVs [35]. Liang et al. [36] addressed the need to explore the factors
influencing electric vehicle (EV) charging station establishment, from
economic perspective, using the DEMATEL-ISM method.
Verma et al. [12] addressed the drivers affecting the purchase
decision of EVs based on innovation diffusion theory. Based on SWOT
analysis, Suman et al. [37] examined the potential of the EV market and
the business strategy, while Ahmed and Karmaker [38] concentrated
on the challenges of EVs adoption. The rest of the works are mainly
focused on the renewable energy usage in EVs [10,21] and EVs charg-
ing stations [11,39]. Several review papers have been conducted on
factors that may influence the successful adoption and diffusion process
[19,40]. Although several studies have covered some factors towards
EVs adoption, studies relating to EVs diffusion considering factors from
behavioral, social, infrastructural, strategic etc. context simultaneously
are still lacking in current literature. Moreover, most of these studies
have been undertaken from the perspective of first-world or industri-
alized countries and very little amount of work is done in emerging
economy perspective [41]. Research works based on qualitative and
quantitative methods, integrating key drivers to promoting sustainable
mobility and SDGs in the context of the emerging economies has not
been explored yet. Again, prior studies have not yet explained the
interrelationships among the factors to EVs adoption.
This research, thereby, intends to fill these knowledge gaps by
integrating different dimensions of EVs adoption and hierarchically
modeling those drivers to demonstrate their relationships explicitly in
the context of emerging economy market. Accordingly, this study is
expected to contribute to achieve some specific SDGs by proposing
a novel framework implementing the robust PCA and ISM-MICMAC
approaches to evaluate the drivers of adopting sustainable mobility
practices in the emerging economy.
2.3. Identification of the key drivers for successful adoption of EVs
The scientific literature on EVs adoption has grown dramatically
in recent years [42]. Haddadian et al. [5] have briefly discussed var-
ious drivers and barriers to accelerate EVs adoption and suggested
how to develop suitable regulatory framework for this purpose. Guno
et al. [43] focused on determining how various drivers influence EVs
adoption in public transportation. Many researchers have used the
theory of planned behavior (TPB) to forecast the intentions of potential
customers towards EVs. Moons and De Pelsmacker [44] investigated
the elements that affect an electric car’s usage intention using the TPB
and identified some correlated factors. Several research has shown the
importance of individual TPB factors or a combination of factors for EVs
adoption in some developing countries such as India [45,46], Pakistan
[47], Indonesia [48], Malaysia [49] etc. TPB suggested that attitude,
subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control influence behavioral
intention, and variables can be used to broaden the scope [45,47,48].
Apart from this, Wu et al. [23] highlighted the public acceptability
of EVs considering customers’ environmental concerns and discovered
it to have a substantial indirect influence on adoption intention. Ng
et al. [50] performed a psychological study on environmental behav-
iors to assess customer purchasing intention for EVs. Xu et al. [51]
investigated how consumer’s driving experience influences EV adoption
intention from the consumer’s emotional standpoint. Jenn et al. [52]
addressed the need for various financial and non-financial incentives
and their impact on EV adoption.
During identifying the preliminary list of key drivers of EVs adop-
tion, Boolean Operators were used. Relevant articles were searched
using several key terms: ‘‘drivers for EVs adoption’’ OR ‘‘factors for EVs
introduction’’ OR ‘‘critical success factors for EV acceptance’’ AND ‘‘EVs
in emerging economies’’ OR ‘‘achieving SDGs by identifying the key
factors to EVs implementation in emerging economies’’. For conducting
T. Palit, A.B.M.M. Bari and C.L. Karmaker
this study, articles from these Google Scholar database — Science Direct
and Scopus were examined, and only the research work conducted after
2010 was considered. Table A1 in Appendix A of Supplementary
materials provides the initially identified list of driving factors for
implementing EVs as popular transportation mode to ensure envi-
ronmental sustainability and achieve SDGs in the emerging economy
context.
3. Research methodology and analysis
The proposed approach has been formulated utilizing PCA, and
ISM-MICMAC analysis. In this research, data were collected in two
phases. At the beginning of the first phase, experts’ feedbacks have been
gathered through an online-based questionnaire type survey via Google
Forms and later, factors have been sorted out using PCA. When the
dimensions of the input features are large and there is multi-collinearity
across variables, the PCA approach proves to be very useful [53]. By
allowing the identification of the most important features and catego-
rizing them into a few components, PCA extracts important information
from the large dataset and provides a less complex perspective to the
user. These features led us to use PCA for sorting out the identified
drivers for this research. Here, 17 drivers have been initially identified,
where correlations were present. Thereby, use of PCA was justified
here. After consulting with several academic experts in the relevant
field, three factors (Knowledge about Electric Vehicles, Perceived Ease
of Use, and Driving Enjoyment Benefit) were removed. Hence, out of
17 initially identified drivers, 14 have been carried over to the next
stage of analysis.
In the second phase of data collection, we proceed with the ISM
survey design to investigate the interdependencies among the drivers.
ISM is quite effective in establishing the relationships among different
variables and making deduction on the solution strategies based on
the variables’ interdependencies. Due to its simplistic concept and easy
computational steps, it has gained much popularity and is widely used
in various areas. The key steps of ISM methodology are described in
Section 3.2. Considering the functionality of ISM, this tool is used in
this research for investigating the drivers for EVs adoption. A hierar-
chy model was constructed through ISM and then, the drivers were
classified according to their driving and dependence power by using
MICMAC analysis.
PCA has been coupled with other methods like DEMATEL or ISM as
a hybrid approach in several previous studies, such as for the critical
success factors assessment of the wood industry [53], IoT enablers
for Industry 4.0 [54], and so on. However, the use of PCA and ISM-
MICMAC to analyze the key drivers for EVs adoption and examine their
interactions has not been explored yet and can be considered a new
scope for study related to EVs diffusion process. The combination of
a statistical analysis tool like PCA with two popular MCDM tools like
ISM and MICMAC approaches will not only lead to recognizing the most
significant driving factors for EV adoption and categorizing them into
fewer components, but also to defining their interrelations, establishing
a hierarchical model and sorting them according to their driving and
dependence power. Thus, this integrated analysis will provide a full
overview of the driving factors of EV adoption decisions in a developing
country. The overall research methodology framework is outlined in
Fig. 1.
3.1. Principal component analysis (PCA)
PCA is a mathematical method that uses a limited number of
factors to describe the variance in a dataset (i.e., responses used to
characterize the samples). PCA is often considered as a better option
for modeling response data than the analysis of variance, which has
instigated many researchers to used it in a variety of scientific domains
and has undergone several modifications before arriving at its current
shape [55].
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Decision Analytics Journal 4 (2022) 100119
PCA examines a data table that contains observations that are
characterized by several dependent variables, which are, in general,
inter-correlated. Its objectives are (a) selection of the most essential
data from the data table, (b) reduction of the size of the data set by
maintaining only the key information, (c) simplification of the data
set description, and (d) investigation of the structure of the obser-
vations and variables. PCA computes new variables called principal
components (PCs) that are produced as linear combinations of the
original variables to fulfill these aims [56,57]. Each PC is a linear
combination of the original responses and PCs are orthogonal to each
other. The Kaiser criteria can be used to identify the number of PCs,
where eigenvalues greater than 1 are deemed ‘‘significant’’ in PCA
analysis [58]. The Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin (KMO) test is a test for identi-
fying sampling adequacy that examines the suitability of the measured
variables for PCA [57,59]. Values can range from 0 to 1, where the
higher value indicates better sampling adequacy and a value less than
0.5 denotes that the data is not appropriate to perform PCA. To see if
the answers are correlated, Bartlett’s test of sphericity can be performed
later [57,60]. In this study, SPSS software has been utilized to perform
PCA analysis.
3.2. Interpretive structural modeling (ISM)
Interpretive structural modeling (ISM) is a well-established method-
ology for detecting links among variables in which a collection of
directly and indirectly connected items is organized into a full system-
atic model [61]. It is preferable to grasp the structural link among the
pieces rather than evaluate them independently when several factors
are associated with the problem. As a result, this modeling aids in
gaining a clear understanding of how the pieces of a complex system
interact. The stepwise procedure of the ISM technique is illustrated as
follows.
Step 1: A literature review and brainstorming sessions with experi-
enced industrialists and academicians are used to identify the variables
affecting the system under discussion.
Step 2: A contextual relationship is established among the variables
identified in step-01 by continuous assessment of the experts. It is rep-
resented by a matrix called a structural self-interaction matrix (SSIM)
that contains pairwise relationships among the variables. The following
symbols are used to denote the direction of the relationship between the
parameters i and j:
• V: If parameter i affects parameter j
• A: If parameter j affects parameter i
• X: If parameter i and parameter j affect each other
• O: If parameter i and parameter j are unrelated and has no effect
on each other
Step 3: The SSIM is converted into a binary matrix called the initial
reachability matrix where, V, A, X, and O relationships are substituted
into 0 and 1. The rules for substitution are as follows: for symbol V,
the entry (i,j) will be 1 whereas the entry (j,i) will be 0; for symbol X,
the entry (i,j) will be 0 whereas the entry (j,i) will be 1; for notation
X, both entries (i,j) and (j,i) will be 1; and for notation O, both entries
will be 0.
Step 4: Initial reachability matrix (IRM) is constructed from SSIM is
then checked for transitivity. If parameter i is related to parameter j
and parameter j is related to parameter k, according to the transitivity
rule, parameter i is necessarily related to parameter k. Hence, if an (i, j)
entry fulfills this criterion, then the value of the entry becomes 1. IRM
is later transformed to a final reachability matrix (FRM), once all the
entries have been checked and any required changes have been made.
Step 5: FRM is partitioned into different levels by determining the
reachability set and antecedent set found through IRM. The variables
T. Palit, A.B.M.M. Bari and C.L. Karmaker
Fig. 1. Research methodology framework.
that a variable may impact, including itself, are included in its reacha-
bility set and the antecedent set of a variables made up of the variable
itself and all the variables that might impact it.
The intersections set is then created by combining the reachabil-
ity and antecedent sets. The elements that are common to both the
reachability set and the antecedent set are found in the intersection set.
The attribute that has a similar reachability set and intersection set is
labeled as a ‘‘top-level attribute’’. The identified top-level factor is then
eliminated from the other reachability, antecedent, and intersection
sets, and the process is continued until all levels of variables have been
discovered. This repeated level partitioning is linked to the hierarchical
ISM model’s construction.
Step 6: A conical matrix is constructed by organizing the variables
according to their driving and dependence power. The ISM model
is then constructed using the levels and reachability matrix without
taking transitivity into account.
3.3. Matrices Impacts Croises Multiplication Appliquee au Classement
(MICMAC) analysis
The multiplication characteristics of matrices are utilized in MIC-
MAC analysis. The goal of MICMAC analysis is to gain an insight into
the driving and dependence power of the variables [62]. All variables
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Decision Analytics Journal 4 (2022) 100119
are divided into four defined clusters with the following characteris-
tics after examining and categorizing them in terms of driving and
dependent power.
• Cluster 1 features ‘‘autonomous factors’’, which have neither a
high degree of reliance nor a significant degree of driving power.
• Cluster 2 features ‘‘dependent factors’’ with a high degree of
reliance but limited driving power.
• Cluster 3 features ‘‘linkage factors’’ (relay variables) with a high
dependence and high-driving power.
• Cluster 4 features ‘‘independent factors’’ (influence variables)
with minimal dependency but a significant driving power.
By arranging the factors into several categories according to their
characteristics, MICMAC analysis provides the reader with a clear
understanding of the nature of the variables and assists in determining
which traits should be prioritized.
3.4. Identification of key drivers using PCA
In the first phase of data collection, a standard questionnaire based
on a 5-point Likert scale was developed to finalize the drivers for the
mass adoption of EVs in Bangladesh using PCA. The questionnaire
(Appendix B of Supplementary materials) was shared via Google
T. Palit, A.B.M.M. Bari and C.L. Karmaker Decision Analytics Journal 4 (2022) 100119

Table 1
Summary of the participating experts’ profile.
Organization type Designation No. of experts (Total = 142) Average work experience (n)
Professor 8 n > 15
Academic Associate Professor 16 n > 8
Assistant Professor 13 n > 6
Supply Chain Managers 12 n > 12
R&D Managers 10 n > 10
Automobiles
Operations Managers 18 n > 12
Industry Marketing Managers 24 n > 10
Managers (Engineering) 12 n > 12
Power generation Project Managers 7 n > 8
Marketing Managers 22 n > 10

Table 2 Table 3
Ranking of drivers using PCA. Categories extracted from PCA.
Drivers Rotated Component Matrix Mean Standard Rank Extracted components Drivers selected from PCA
deviation
Attitude towards EVs (AEV)
Comp-1 Comp-2 Comp-3 Comp-4 Comp-5 Psychological & Behavioral Personal Norms (PN)
Motivation Perceived Value (PV)
AEV 0.703 3.401 1.079 10
Price Acceptability (PA)
EC 0.693 3.479 1.077 9
PN 0.626 3.486 1.037 8 Adequate Power and Charging Infrastructure (APC)
APC 0.911 4.183 0.74 2 Regulations Creation & Government Policies (GP)
GP 0.716 4.162 0.831 3 Facility Development Satisfaction with Maintenance Facilities (SMF)
PV 0.874 4.106 0.84 4 Fuel Cost Saving (FCS)
PA 0.612 3.373 1.083 11
Marketing and Distributions (MD)
SMF 0.752 3.493 0.973 6 Manufacturer responsibility
After Sales Service (ASS)
VPR 0.67 4.211 0.815 1
MD 0.848 2.472 1.09 12 Vehicle Quality Vehicle Performance and Reliability (VPR)
ASS 0.736 3.57 0.963 5 Environmental Environmental Consciousness (EC)
FCS 0.84 3.493 0.951 6 Consciousness

Table 4
Forms among 200 industry experts and academicians. An extensive Development of Structural Self-Interaction Matrix (SSIM).
understanding of electric cars, sustainability, or related disciplines, as Drivers FCS ASS MD VPR SMF PA PV GP APC PN EC AEV
well as more than 7 years of professional experience in these sectors, AEV O A O A O O O A A A A
were among the inclusion criteria for expert selection. A purposive EC O O O O O V V V O V
sampling technique was employed, to choose the experts, especially PN O O O O O O V O O
APC O V V V V V O A
those who are competent, insightful, experienced and can make a con-
GP V V V O O V O
siderable contribution to the study. The information was gathered over PV A O O O O V
several months. Among 200 respondents, 142 experts (71% response PA A A O A A
rate) provided comprehensive and usable feedback. A summary profile SMF O A A A
of the experts is given in Table 1. VPR O A O
After consolidating the data, we performed PCA using a renowned MD O V
ASS O
statistical software platform-SPSS. To check the reliability of the data
FCS
and to quantify the degree of interconnections among the factors, we
tested samples using the KMO measure of adequacy test and Bartlett’s
test of sphericity. The Cronbach’s alpha value obtained from PCA was
0.803, which is greater than 0.70, implying that the data is highly Matrix (SSIM) was built at first. Following the procedures of ISM
reliable. To increase the KMO MSA value, 3 least important factors analysis and based on the expert’s responses, an aggregated SSIM was
(Knowledge about Electric Vehicles, Perceived Ease of Use and Driving constructed. The SSIM for the key drivers for mass adoption of EVs is
Enjoyment Benefit) that were identified from the data collected from shown in Table 4.
the experts were not considered for the analysis, and only the data
Next, the initial reachability matrix (IRM) results were derived
of the remaining 14 factors were used. In general, a KMO MSA >0.50
(Appendix C: Table C1 of Supplementary materials) from SSIM by
indicates that the sample is adequate, and it is appropriate to perform
PCA on a correlation matrix [56,59]. The KMO measure of adequacy converting the symbols into binary numbers (0 and 1) and later, the
was 0.834 (0 < 0.50) and the significance value of Bartlett’s test final reachability matrix (FRM) was formed after checking transitivity
of sphericity was 0 (0 < 0.40). These values indicate high internal issues (Table 5).
consistency and reliability for the obtained data. Subsequently, level partitioning from the FRM was performed to
The PCA analysis excluded two factors (‘Subjective norm’ and ‘Trust determine different levels of the key factors to EVs adoption. In order to
in EV’) from the list of 14 factors as they exhibited a factor loading perform this analysis, the reachability, antecedent, and interaction set
below 0.60 in each component and finally, the remaining 12 drivers of each driver were measured. From the three sets, final level partition-
were selected, ranked, and classified into five distinct groups based on ing was obtained. As shown in Table 6, the top-ranked twelve factors
the opinion of the experts. Tables 2 and 3 present the rankings and can be divided into eight levels. Different iterations for final level
categories of the drivers, respectively.
portioning are depicted in Appendix C of Supplementary materials
3.5. Construction of ISM-based hierarchical model (Table C2–Table C9).
The final level partitioning shows that ‘‘Environmental Conscious-
For developing an ISM-based hierarchical model with the twelve ness (EC)’’ is positioned at level 8 of the ISM-based hierarchical model.
drivers of EVs extracted from PCA analysis, a Structural Self-Interaction Level 7, 6, 5, and 4 contains ‘‘Government Policies (GP)’’, ‘‘Adequate

6
T. Palit, A.B.M.M. Bari and C.L. Karmaker Decision Analytics Journal 4 (2022) 100119

Table 5
Construction of Final Reachability Matrix (FRM).
Drivers AEV EC PN APC GP PV PA SMF VPR MD ASS FCS Driving power
AEV 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
EC 1 1 1 1* 1 1 1 1* 1* 1* 1* 1* 12
PN 1 0 1 0 0 1 1* 0 0 0 0 0 4
APC 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 7
GP 1 0 0 1 1 1* 1 1* 1* 1 1 1 10
PV 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2
PA 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
SMF 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 2
VPR 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 4
MD 1* 0 0 0 0 0 1* 1 1* 1 1 0 6
ASS 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 5
FCS 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 3
Dependence power 8 1 2 3 2 5 11 7 6 4 5 3

Table 6 4. Discussions
Final level partitioning of the FRM.
Drivers Reachability set Antecedent set Intersection set Level The findings form this research indicate that Environmental Con-
AEV 1 1,2,3,4,5,9,10,11 1 1 sciousness (EC) is one of the most significant drivers for the mass
EC 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12 2 2 8
adoption of EVs in the context examined. Wu et al. [23] stated that
PN 1,3,6,7 2,3, 3 3
APC 1,4,7,8,9,10,11 2,4,5 4 6
the environmental sensitivity of a customer directly or indirectly affects
GP 1,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12 2,5 5 7 all the other factors working for EVs diffusion. This driver is also
PV 6,7 2,3,5,6,12 6 2 identified as the most important factor according to the ISM results of
PA 7 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12 7 1 this research, keeping it in the basement of the model (Fig. 2). This
SMF 7,8 2,4,5,8,9,10,11 8 2
driver is also situated in the independent cluster in the MICMAC graph
VPR 1,7,8,9 2,4,5,9,10,11 9 3
MD 1,7,8,9,10,11 2,4,5,10 10 5 (Fig. 3), which denotes that it plays a vital role in severely fostering
ASS 1,7,8,9,11 2,4,5,10,11 11 4 EVs’ adoption and implementation process. This finding may support
FCS 6,7,12 2,5,12 12 3 the assumption that before bringing EVs to emerging economies’ wider
populace, it is critical to instill environmental awareness in the minds
of the general people [64]. The consumers’ awareness regarding en-
Power and Charging Infrastructure (APC)’’, ‘‘Marketing and Distribu- vironmental issues informs them of the fact that using traditional
tions (MD)’’ and ‘‘After Sales Service (ASS)’’ respectively. Furthermore, automobiles will result in several negative consequences, including air
drivers ‘‘Vehicle Performance and Reliability (VPR)’’, ‘Fuel Cost Saving pollution, global warming, and so on. When the common people are
(FCS)’’ and ‘‘Personal Norms (PN)’’ are found in level 3, whereas properly informed and educated about the harmful impacts of internal
level 2 includes ‘‘Satisfaction with Maintenance Facilities (SMF)’’ and combustion engine vehicles on the environment, they will voluntarily
‘‘Perceived Value (PV)’’. Finally, ‘‘Attitude towards Electric Vehicles cooperate in the EV adoption process, due to their sense of social
(AEV)’’ and ‘‘Price Acceptability (PA)’’ are at level 1 and they lie at responsibility. Therefore, necessary measures should be implemented
the top of the ISM hierarchy. by the policymakers to promote environmental mass awareness among
The level partitioning led to the formation of the ISM-based model the community, which will eventually result in a moral commitment to
(Fig. 2). This model represents the relations among the drivers placed the successful adoption of EVs.
at different levels, forming links with other drivers. Additionally, Government Policies (GP), Adequate Power and
Charging Infrastructure (APC), and Marketing and Distributions (MD)
3.6. Estimating the driving and dependence power of drivers are grouped in the independent cluster by the MICMAC analysis. Au-
tomobile consumer behavior is highly responsive to the governmental
In this study, the MICMAC analysis was applied to determine the policies, incentives, and regulations. The environmental consciousness
driving and dependence power of the suggested drivers of EVs adoption directly affects the Governmental Policies (GP) and Personal Norms
in the context of emerging economy. ISM aids in the visualization of the (PN) of EV users. Kumar and Alok [41] suggest that the barriers to
elements’ hierarchical relationships, whereas MICMAC analysis aids in EVs adoption can be overcome with appropriate policy and regulations
determining the degree of interdependency between the variables [63]. taken by the policymakers. Government actions such as subsidizing or
Based on the driving and dependence power, it assists the practitioner
exempting EVs from taxes, enhancing the value of electric automobiles
in determining which drivers should be prioritized.
through secondary, non-financial incentives, or raising the costs of in-
MICMAC analysis was carried out by drawing an X–Y diagram,
ternal combustion engine vehicles, among others, can have a significant
as shown in Fig. 3, with the driving power on the 𝑋-axis and the
impact on customer demand for an EV [65]. Besides, investments in
dependent power on the 𝑌 -axis, and then, placing the twelve drivers
EVs research & development (R&D), preparing the roads and related
depending on their driving and dependence power. The drivers have
infrastructures for fostering electric modes, reducing and overcoming
been further classified based on the degree of impact they have. To
categorize the recommended drivers, the entire graphic is separated bureaucratic red tapes, etc. can be helpful both for the EV industries
into four segments: autonomous, dependent, linkage, and independent. and its customers. The government can also invest in renewable energy
In Cluster 1 (Autonomous cluster), drivers have both poor driving and sources, economically patronize the advancement of locally made elec-
dependence power and they play a neutral role in the adoption process. tric automobiles, enforce fast disposal of dilapidated old ICE vehicles,
In Cluster 2 (Independent cluster), drivers possess good driving power and launch massive public awareness campaigns to disseminate EVs’
but poor dependence power. On the contrary, Cluster 3 (Dependent potential benefits. Again, customers’ feeling of social responsibility and
cluster) drivers have poor driving power and good dependence power. green conduct for pro-environmental behavior should be encouraged
Finally, in Cluster 4 (Linkage cluster), drivers have both strong driving by the government through cultural education so that consumers may
and strong dependence power. However, these drivers are relatively deliberately and voluntarily fulfill their moral obligations to safeguard
unstable, and any change to these drivers has a feedback effect on the the environment. Additionally, the policies and guidelines should be
other related drivers. established in a manner that makes each stakeholder aware of their

7
T. Palit, A.B.M.M. Bari and C.L. Karmaker Decision Analytics Journal 4 (2022) 100119

Fig. 2. ISM model for EV adoption in Bangladesh.

Fig. 3. Driving and dependence power of the drivers.

responsibilities [66]. The ISM model shows that Adequate Power and
Charging Infrastructure (APC) and Marketing and Distributions (MD)
are directly influenced by Government Policies (GP). Recently, several
studies have identified that the availability of adequate charging in-
frastructure can enhance EVs’ diffusion [67,68]. So, a huge proportion
of electric grids are required to be installed for generating enough
electricity to meet the power demands of EVs. Furthermore, ample
charging stations must be established in local and long-distance routes
for EV users by doing proper research on strategic locations. Marketing
and Distributions (MD) was also identified as one of the primary factors
for EVs adoption in the study of Krishnan and Koshy [69]. Producer
companies should focus on mass marketing strategies to reach a wide
number of customers, and a robust distribution network should be
developed to make EVs available in stores across the country. This
may be accomplished by developing and sharing product information
and illustrating how EVs, as the more sustainable alternative, might
assist to reduce the use of fossil fuels, while also presenting its potential
influences on decreasing GHG emissions.
Here, Perceived Value (PV), After Sales Service (ASS), Fuel Cost
Saving (FCS), and Personal Norms (PN), are autonomous factors with
low driving and dependence powers obtained by the MICMAC study.
This means, these are the factors that need to be addressed mostly
separately by the policymakers and do further research on how to
develop them. Perceived Value (PV) is the most important determinant

8
T. Palit, A.B.M.M. Bari and C.L. Karmaker
factor in customer’s purchasing behavior, which is governed by the
behavioral standards of the customer. Personal Norms (PN) define the
value a client appears to associate with a certain product and what
feature of the product she/he seems to give priority to, which increases
the Perceived Value (PV) of the product. Hassan et al. [70] stated that
Perceived Value (PV) plays a key part in the decision-making process
for purchasing something, which leads to the purchase of items with
high perceived worth. Vehicle manufacturers should prioritize inherent
value to maintain and attract additional customers. They should clearly
show the benefit of EVs to consumers, in contrast to the traditional
ICE vehicles, via product and service quality, dependability, and value
for money. After Sales Service (ASS) can also play an important part
here, according to Krishnan and Koshy [69]. Spares and other required
components should be made available and skilled manpower should
be developed to address the maintenance and other technical issues.
The seller firms must provide adequate support and services to their
customers, so that they can build faith in their brand. Furthermore,
the advantages of Fuel Cost Saving (FCS) might be attractive to the
potential customers of alternative fuel vehicles [68]. Most customers
will be more eager to use greener alternatives like electricity only
if they are cheaper than conventional fossil fuels. The ISM model
depicts that Government Policies (GP) have a direct impact on Fuel
Cost Savings (FCS). Taking measures to discourage the use of fossil
fuels, such as raising taxes, spreading awareness, and so on, as well as
lowering electricity prices by offering subsidies and creating associated
infrastructure, might encourage the customers to select EVs as a more
efficient alternative to save money on automobile fuels. Hence, by
focusing on the drivers — Government Policies (GP) and Adequate
Power and Charging Infrastructure (APC), this driving factor is easily
achievable. Besides, according to the ISM model, Personal Norms (PN)
are directly dependent on Environmental Consciousness (EC). Asadi
et al. [71] have indicated Personal Norms (PN) as the most significant
driver of consumers’ intention to embrace EVs. Personal norms impact
people’s pro-social activities or intentions, whereas knowledge of the
circumstance and relevant commitment are significant components in
the formation of these norms. As a result, emphasizing Environmen-
tal Consciousness (EC) will have a significant impact on customers’
purchasing decision, when they are looking to purchase a new vehicle.
Moving on to the dependent factors, according to PCA, the most
essential element for EVs adoption is Vehicle Performance and Relia-
bility (VPR). Xu et al. [51] found that the driving satisfaction of the
customers has a substantial and preferable influence on EVs adoption.
In a developing country like Bangladesh, the efficiency and endurance
of a vehicle are more valuable to the consumers than aesthetics and
style. So, rather than focusing on variation in product models, it is vital
to make EVs more robust, efficient and reliable. Therefore, ensuring
quality throughout the production process is a key factor for the
acceptance of EVs in Bangladesh. The ISM model indicates that this
factor will also trigger the customers’ Satisfaction with Maintenance
Facilities (SMF). The high purchase price and battery cost of EVs are
one of the influential challenges in the context of emerging economy
users. So, customers’ Price Acceptability (PA) of EV is crucial for their
purchasing intention. According to Han et al. [72], selling the cleaner
car competitively with conventional vehicles will encourage people to
choose full EVs. Government assistance in the form of subsidies, tax
breaks, and other incentives are absolute necessities, if the purchasing
price of EVs and battery prices are to be reduced. Moreover, consumers
are more inclined to choose an EV if they have a favorable opinion of
the technology. Hence, if the government and the private ventures can
take appropriate measures to consider the driving factors, it will aid in
the development of people’s Attitude towards EVs (ATT).
High driving power factors are strategically essential, whereas high
dependence power factors are more performance oriented. Consid-
ering all these factors while introducing EVs to the general people
can certainly boost the adoption of EVs in the context examined.
Finally, the identification of the drivers and the PCA-ISM-MICMAC
9
Decision Analytics Journal 4 (2022) 100119
analysis indicates that the successful development and adoption of EVs
in an emerging economy like Bangladesh requires the synchronized
transition of the whole automotive technology ecosystem, including
its supporting infrastructures, proper investments, institutional poli-
cies, government subsidies, consumer perceptions, executing plans and
strategies, and innovative business models that can promote EVs as the
viable and practical alternative in the automotive sector.
5. Implications
The proposed research has various theoretical, managerial and en-
vironmental implications, which have been discussed in the following
subsections.
5.1. Theoretical implications
From a theoretical standpoint, the outcomes of this study have
several implications for the researchers. Firstly, this study develops
a mixed-method approach by synergically integrating PCA, and ISM-
MICMAC methods to identify, rank, and examine the relationships
among the key drivers of EVs adoption. This type of integration has
not been suggested or explored in the sustainable transportation lit-
erature yet. The proposed framework may provide a new outlook to
future researchers to apply such integration as the basis to validate
the propositions using different statistical techniques such as structural
equation modeling with partial least square. Secondly, this study has
demonstrated the interconnections and provided a hierarchical model
of the drivers for the mass adoption of EVs. The article developed a
hierarchical model of the factors, indicating the significant relation-
ships between them. The proposed framework will assist the future
researchers, policymakers and industrial managers to recognize the key
factors for the successful implementation of EVs in the context exam-
ined. Thirdly, although numerous research studies have been conducted
towards assessment of the drivers, barriers, and critical success factors
of successful EVs adoption over the past several years, most of the
works have focused on the first-world or industrialized countries like
the USA, Europe, China, South Korea etc. Very few papers were telling
the stories of the developing nations. This research has explored the
valuable insights of EV adoption in developing countries with emerging
economy, through proper identification of the factors that influence
their adoption towards a sustainable transportation system.
5.2. Managerial implications
The findings of this study offer important implications for the man-
agers, policymakers, and government authorities of emerging
economies to safeguard the transportation sector’s long-term viability
and improve environmental sustainability, which can eventually im-
prove the quality of life by minimizing harmful elements including
disease, pollution, stress, and coastline erosion etc. [73]. The findings
can also provide some support for the conceptual premise that may
help the sustainability and environmental managers to understand the
importance of electric mode in transportation system, shape strategic
decisions for successful implementation, identify the key drivers that
may foster the adoption process, and maximize the economic value
generating from sustainable practices in both tangible and intangible
forms.
Reforming the existing transportation system to make it sustainable
is a difficult endeavor that needs a comprehensive strategy and lots of
planning and effort from all parties involved. This research has been
designed in a way that will help policymakers to deploy EVs across the
country effectively and efficiently. The ranking obtained from PCA will
assist the policymakers to understand what drivers they should focus
on initially and how they should build plans to successfully popularize
EVs to the common people. Additionally, the categorization of factors
extracted from PCA describes proper strategies required to be set by
each entity (government officials, stakeholders, customers, etc.). Some
of the significant managerial implications obtained from PCA are as
follows:
T. Palit, A.B.M.M. Bari and C.L. Karmaker
1. Producers and marketing firms could concentrate on the PCA-
derived component ‘‘Psychological & Behavioral Motivation’’ to
better understand the emotional characteristics of their clients.
2. ‘‘Regulations Creation & Facility Development’’ can be a focusing
component for the government authorities to set auspicious
regulations for EVs’ adoption and dissemination and ensure a
seamless transition in the transportation mode.
3. To make EVs available to all interested customers throughout
the country, producers should also emphasize the component
‘‘Manufacturer Responsibility’’.
4. ‘‘Vehicle Quality’’ should also be a priority for manufacturers
while creating automobiles to boost customer satisfaction.
5. The PCA extracted component ‘‘Environmental Consciousness
(EC)’’ should be fostered in the mindset of all parties involved,
especially the customers. Since it is situated at the core of the
ISM model, it should be given very high importance.
The ISM-based model developed in this study will aid the policy-
makers in comprehending the drivers and their interrelationships in
the scenario of Bangladeshi consumers’ adoption of EVs. Furthermore,
the research will assist them in developing long-term and short-term
strategies to establish a sustainable transportation model across the
country.
5.3. Implications for SDGs
The hierarchical model, obtained from the proposed ISM-MICMAC
framework, will help the industrial managers and regulating authorities
to initiate action plans to achieve SDGs. According to the model,
‘‘Environmental Consciousness (EC)’’ is the most significant driver of
EVs adoption that will improve the sense of social responsibility of
the users against the harmful impacts of internal combustion engine
vehicles on the environment and provoke the adoption of EVs while
ensuring optimum usage of energy. Again, Affordable and Clean Energy
(SDG 7) can be achieved through focusing on this driver. Moreover,
EC will help to ensure SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-Being) through
lessening the environmental pollution. ‘‘Government Policies (GP)’’ will
not only ensure the mass diffusion of EVs but also promote climate
action, reduction in pollution, and sustainability in the communities.
This driver can play a vital role in achieving SDG 11 (Sustainable
Cities and Communities) and SDG 13 (Climate Action). ‘‘Fuel Cost
Saving (FCS)’’, one of the influential factors of EVs adoption, can
provide policymakers to adopt sustainable mode of transportation that
eventually will help to ensure Decent Work and Economic Growth (SDG
8) through improving the economy of automobile sector and generating
huge employment. Additionally, regulation, innovation, and coopera-
tion between industrialists and policymakers in the field of sustainable
transportation, combining the PCA extracted components ‘‘Regulations
Creation & Facility Development’’ and ‘‘Manufacturer Responsibility’’,
ensure Partnerships to achieve the Goal (SDG 17). Thus, this study is
expected to contribute to Affordable and Clean Energy (SDG 7); Good
Health and Well-Being (SDG 3); Sustainable Cities and Communities
(SDG 11); Decent Work and Economic Growth (SDG 8); Climate Action
(SDG 13) and Partnerships to achieve the Goal (SDG 17) by providing
valuable insights through to PCA and ISM-MICMAC analysis.
6. Conclusions
Increased awareness on environmental issues has become an im-
portant focus in today’s world. For that reason, the deployment of a
sustainable transportation system is gradually getting more and more
attention all over the world and many countries are reshaping their
transportation model towards electric modes. Bangladesh, being one of
the fastest growing emerging economies, is no exception to this trend.
Bangladeshi government is planning to shift ICE-dependent transporta-
tion system to hybrid EV (HEV) and EV dependent system to ensure
10
Decision Analytics Journal 4 (2022) 100119
better environmental protection and community well-being. The exces-
sive dependence on traditional ICE vehicles is one of the leading causes
of environmental pollution in today’s society. It emits toxic gases such
as CO2, GHGs etc. by burning fossil fuels, which adversely affect the
global ecology and environment. The diffusion of EVs, on the other
hand, has emerged as a possible long-term sustainable solution to the
energy crisis and environmental challenges due to its salient potential
in terms of energy efficiency and tailpipe emission reduction. Amid this
situation, industrial leaders and policymakers of emerging economies
should take the necessary steps for the successful adoption of EVs.
This study presents a structured intelligent framework for identify-
ing, ranking, and comprehending the key drivers to adopt EVs towards
environmental sustainability in emerging economies like Bangladesh.
Based on the literature review and expert opinions, 17 factors were
identified initially. Among them, 14 are considered for PCA and after
PCA analysis, 2 low-rated factors were removed. Later, ISM and MIC-
MAC analyses were performed to find the interrelationships among the
driving factors and classify them. PCA analysis suggested that ‘‘Vehicle
Performance and Reliability (VPR)’’, ‘‘Adequate Power and Charging
Infrastructure (APC)’’, and ‘‘Government Policies (GP)’’ are the most
notable drivers for EVs spread in emerging economies like Bangladesh.
These drivers are found to have considerable impact on the effective
dissemination of EVs, both independently and interdependently. ISM
assisted in the development of a hierarchical model based on the in-
terrelationships among the drivers. ISM indicates that ‘‘Environmental
Consciousness (EC)’’ and ‘‘Government Policies (GP)’’ are the most
fundamental drivers on which the rest are dependent. These parameters
are also found to be in the independent variable cluster in MICMAC
analysis suggesting that these driving factors should be given higher
priority for the successful diffusion of EVs in Bangladesh.
The outcomes of this study shed some valuable insight on the
elements that might impact the switching process from conventional
fossil fuel-based ICE vehicles to EVs in the context examined. The
ranking obtained from PCA will assist the policymakers to understand
what key factors they should focus on initially and how they should
build plans to successfully popularize EVs to the common population.
Ultimately, the consequences of these actions are expected to safeguard
the environment by cutting down pollution and help to achieve some
SDGs.
As with every study, this study has some limitations as well, which
can be overcome in future research attempts. This research is one of
the initial attempts that integrate mixed methods for assessing driving
factors for EVs mass diffusion in the context of emerging economy. The
authors have faced a lot of difficulties to sort out the key factors due
to limited previous research in a developing economy context. Thereby,
the list of drivers identified in this research is not exhaustive and future
researchers can attempt to find more relevant drivers in this context.
Again, the model was developed and verified based on expert opinions.
Hence, the findings may be a bit skewed due to the experts’ own convic-
tions or point of view. Moreover, the necessary data was collected from
academic specialists and relevant industry authorities, while officials
from the road transport and highways division in Bangladesh were not
approached to prevent conflict of interest and maintain the impartiality
of the study. In the future, the factors influencing the adoption intention
of EVs can be explored by incorporating other stakeholders such as
consumers, policymakers, automobile manufacturers etc. Furthermore,
in future, this study should be analyzed using other decision-making
methods and obtained results can be compared for other developing
economies perspective. Lastly, in future, the proposed model can be
used as ground to carryout statistically validated research using meth-
ods like structural equation modeling (SEM). Thereby, despite a few
flaws, this research can be expected to be an excellent foundation for
additional future research towards the adoption of a more sustainable
transportation modes in the emerging economies.
T. Palit, A.B.M.M. Bari and C.L. Karmaker
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to
influence the work reported in this paper.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary material related to this article can be found online
at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dajour.2022.100119.
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