With the escalating environmental issues, the imperatives to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and advance energy products through innovation, energy production, and consumption frequently result in environmental externalities. Conventional markets frequently struggle to address these external factors, resulting in market failures. Consumers are more aware of the environmental repercussions, regulatory mandates, and potential economic benefits of new energy vehicles (NEVs). Consequently, there has been a substantial surge in the demand for NEVs as alternatives to conventional vehicles. This study analyses the method by which innovative technology moves from the stage of purchase intention dissemination toward market adoption and explores strategies to expedite this process. Moreover, it examines how the intentions of customers to purchase ecologically friendly energy goods and their receptiveness to such products affect the expansion of the market. Further analysis indicates that the factors influencing consumers’ attitudes towards NEVs include the adoption of ecological innovation, awareness of environmental product knowledge, and perceived value of innovative, environmentally friendly energy products. The purpose of this study is to expand upon the existing literature on consumer demand, examining the influential factors that extend the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) to enhance consumer intention through internal mechanisms. It explicitly focuses on these aspects, as well as perceived risk (PR) and perceived value (PV), to identify gaps in the literature and contribute to intentions to purchase NEVs in China. This study presents a thorough research framework for efficiently examining customer demand for comparable eco-friendly energy products. It investigates the potential influence of attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, and environmental perceptions, specifically those concerning environmental knowledge and concerns. Moreover, personal factors such as attitude, normative beliefs, and perceived control beliefs were found to impact consumer attitudes towards NEVs. The key factor influencing purchasing intention was the attitude towards NEVs. Simultaneously, subjective norms did not have a direct effect on purchase intentions. However, social influence played a significant role in the decision-making process, with perceived behavioural control and subjective norms exerting considerable influence.

The growing awareness of environmental issues and supportive policies have accelerated the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) as a sustainable alternative to conventional transportation. However, economic and perceptual barriers continue to influence consumer decision-making. This study extends the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) by incorporating perceived value (PV) as a mediating mechanism, with environmental knowledge (EK), environmental concern (EC), and perceived risk (PR) as additional antecedents of behavioural, normative, and control beliefs (BB, NB, CB), which in turn shape attitudes (AT), subjective norms (SN), and perceived behavioural control (PBC). Through a survey of 461 potential consumers in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, structural equation modelling via SmartPLS 4.0 reveals that: (1) AT (β = 0.134, p = 0.008) and PBC (β = 0.130, p = 0.011) exert significant direct effects on purchase intention (PI), while SN influences PI through both direct (β = 0.182, p < 0.001) and indirect pathways; (2) EK and EC positively influence both PV and PI, whereas PR negatively influences PV (β = −0.308, p < 0.001) and PI (β = −0.126, p = 0.023); and (3) PV significantly mediates the effects of EK, EC, and PR on PI. The extended model explains 54.2% of the variance in EV purchase intention (R² = 0.542). These findings provide a theoretical and empirical basis for policymakers and manufacturers to design targeted strategies that enhance consumer confidence and promote EV adoption, contributing to sustainable transportation development.