Research project on the students’ attitudes towards electric cars by VŠE and ŠKODA AUTO

The Univesity of Economics in Prague and ŠKODA AUTO collaborated on a research project regarding the exploration of the attitudes of University students in Czech Republic towards sustainability, environmentally friendly/electric cars and ŠKODA AUTO as an employer. Dr Marek Vinš from the Department of Logistics, Dr Efthymia Kottika from the Deparment of Marketing and Dr Kateřina Legnerova from the Department of HR Management developed this project. Quantitative methodology was followed and a structured questionnaire was employed. The sample consisted of 107 students of the University of Economics in Prague. The results of the survey were presented at the headquarters of ŠKODA AUTO and a donation based on the number of participants was made to the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) Czech Republic Office for their fight against Covid-19.

The main findings reveal that the participants have quite high levels of general environmental concerns and almost 77% of them think that purchasing environmentally friendly cars is favorable. Half of the participants showed their intention to buy a car and almost 39% expressed willingness to purchase an electric car in the next five years. The top five most important factors influencing the participants’ decision to buy an electric car in the next five years are: the availability of a lot more charging points where they park, the real world range to be more than 250 km on a single charge, the existence of hundreds of rapid chargers along strategic roads, the existence of a uniform method of accessing public charging points and the existence of more choices of electric cars. Finally, 68% of the participants indicated that they would prefer an environmentally responsible employer and 73% consider ŠKODA AUTO to be an attractive employer.