energies Article Consumer Preferences for Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Based on the Text Mining Method Yuan-Yuan Wang 1,2,†, Yuan-Ying Chi 1,†, Jin-Hua Xu 2,* and Jia-Lin Li 3,* 1 School of Economics and Management, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China;
[email protected] (Y.-Y.W.);
[email protected] (Y.-Y.C.) 2 Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research, Institutes of Science and Development, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China 3 China Datang Group New Energy Science and Technology Research Institute, Beijing 100124, China * Correspondence:
[email protected] (J.-H.X.);
[email protected] (J.-L.L.); Tel.: +86-10-5935-8810 (J.-H.X.) † These two authors contribute equally. Abstract: The construction of charging infrastructure has a positive effect on promoting the diffusion of new energy vehicles (NEVs). This study uses natural language processing (NLP) technology to explore consumer preferences for charging infrastructure from consumer comments posted on public social media. The findings show that consumers in first-tier cities pay more attention to charging infrastructure, and the number of comments accounted for 36% of the total. In all comments, consumers are most concerned about charging issues, national policy support, driving range, and installation of private charging piles. Among the charging modes of charging piles, direct current (DC) fast charging is more popular with consumers. The inability to find public charging piles in time to replenish power during travel or high energy consumption caused by air conditioning is the main reason for consumers’ range anxiety. Increasing battery performance, improving charging Citation: Wang, Y.-Y.; Chi, Y.-Y.; Xu, convenience, and construction of battery swap station are the main ways consumers prefer to increase J.-H.; Li, J.-L.