  Although the rapid development of battery technology has greatly increased
the range of battery electric vehicle (BEV), the range anxiety is still a major
concern of BEV users or potential users. Previous work has proposed a framework
explaining the influential factors of range anxiety and users' trust toward the
range estimation system (RES) of BEV has been identified as a leading factor of
range anxiety. The trust in RES may further influence BEV users' charging
decisions. However, the formation of trust in RES of BEVs has not yet explored.
In this work, a questionnaire has been designed to investigate BEV users' trust
in RES and further explore the influential factors of BEV users' charging
decision. In total, 152 samples collected from the BEV users in mainland China
have been analyzed. The BEV users' gender, driving area, knowledge of BEV or
RES, system usability and trust in battery system of smartphones have been
identified as influential factors of RES in BEVs, supporting the three-layer
framework in automation-related trust (i.e., dispositional trust, situational
trust and learned trust). A connection between smartphone charging behaviors
and BEV charging behaviors has also been observed. The results from this study
can provide insights on the design of RES in BEVs in order to alleviate range
anxiety among users. The results can also inform the design of strategies
(e.g., advertising, training and in-vehicle HMI design) that can facilitate
more rational charging decisions among BEV users.
