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Automotive Engineering ›› 2025, Vol. 47 ›› Issue (11): 2113-2125.doi: 10.19562/j.chinasae.qcgc.2025.11.006

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Study on the Impact of Structural Safety and Empathy Differences on the Willingness to Use eVTOLs

Zhuzi Liu1,Yin Li2,Qiqi Li2,Lin Hu2,Tiefang Zou2()   

  1. 1.Medicine School of Changsha Social Work College,Changsha 410004
    2.School of Automotive and Mechanical Engineering,Changsha University of Science and Technology,Changsha 410114
  • Received:2025-01-04 Revised:2025-05-15 Online:2025-11-25 Published:2025-11-28
  • Contact: Tiefang Zou E-mail:tiefang@163.com

Abstract:

The willingness to use electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing vehicles (eVTOL) is influenced by various factors. Currently, research on the role of structural safety and empathy in shaping this willingness remains limited. Based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), in this study a framework for the willingness to use eVTOLs that incorporates the latent variable of "structural safety" is proposed. Data is collected through a questionnaire survey, yielding 760 responses. After reliability and validity tests, TAMs for different empathy groups are established. The results show that empathy levels significantly affect users' perception and acceptance of eVTOLs, and there are extremely significant differences among different empathy groups in latent variables such as willingness to use, perceived usefulness, and structural safety, leading to completely different model structures. All models show that perceived usefulness has a significant positive impact on attitudes, and structural safety indirectly influences attitudes by enhancing perceived usefulness. The analysis suggests that perceived usefulness needs to be verified through practical application, and structural safety requires a balance between lightweighting and safety, along with strengthened collision testing protocols. The findings extend the TAM theory by integrating technical and affective dimensions, offering interdisciplinary insights for optimizing eVTOL safety systems and tailoring market penetration strategies.

Key words: eVTOL, technology acceptance model, empathy levels, structural safety, willingness to use