A conceptual framework for post-adoption electric vehicle disengagement behaviors

Light-duty passenger electric vehicle (EV) adoption is widely anticipated to translate into sustained and continued use, thereby playing a central role in decarbonizing transportation. However, poor experiences could influence EV owners to reduce or abandon EV ownership after adoption. This paper investigates post-adoption EV behavior by synthesizing literature on continued use to identify behavioral and infrastructural factors that erode continued EV use trajectories, influence under-utilization, and, in some circumstances, drive disadoption. This paper then harmonizes continuance and technology use theories to conceptualize the behavioral underpinnings of EV Disengagement and model post-adoption behavior through initial enthusiasm, barrier encounter, and continued use decisions. The findings highlight how charging infrastructure reliability, perceived inconveniences, and unmet expectations may undermine sustained EV use. We propose that post-adoption EV Disengagement is a potential behavioral trajectory in which repeated negatively perceived charging and use experiences shape satisfaction, habit formation, and trust, producing progressive EV under-utilization or discontinuance. This behavioral disengagement framework has implications for transportation planning, policy, and projections of the EV market and environmental impacts.