Information Management and Business Review (ISSN 2220-3796) Vol. 15, No. 3, pp. 173-182, September 2023 173 Development in Electric Vehicle Intention and Adoption: Integrating the Extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) and Religiosity *Faizah Mashahadi, Razmah Mahmod & Janiffa Saidon Faculty of Business and Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Cawangan Selangor, Malaysia *faizahmashahadi@uitm.edu.my, razmah@uitm.edu.my, janiffa@uitm.edu.my Abstract: Environmental sustainability has become an urgent problem that cannot be avoided and ignored. To mitigate the greenhouse effect in the road transportation sector, Malaysia is articulating a blueprint to reduce emissions through significant national contribution. As such, Malaysia is committed to further promote and adopt energy-efficient vehicles to reduce its carbon footprint under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2030 on climate change. The transportation sector is the main cause of greenhouse gas emissions. Many suggest electric vehicles (EVs) as a mechanism for reducing environmental degradation since EVs release less greenhouse gas as compared to combustion cars. However, the sales of EVs in Malaysia are still low compared to the achievements recorded by the neighboring countries. Despite being the earliest to promote electric vehicles, in the first quarter of 2023, Malaysia has only represented 2.4% of the EV market in Southeast Asia. It seems that the success rate in promoting environmental conservation through the adoption of EVs is still minimal. For this reason, the existing study seeks to explore factors related to EV behavioral intention and adoption by using the extended UTAUT (performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating condition, perceived value/cost, hedonic motive, and habit). The proposed study believes that environmental protection and sustainability must be related to individuals’ values and principles which could have been shaped based on religiosity. Therefore, in addition to the extended UTAUT that views EV intention and adoption from the technical and personal perspective, this study proposes religiosity as a predecessor in determining EV intention and adoption. The use of extended UTAUT and religiosity in the model will clarify the extent to which the influence of technical factors, personal factors and religiosity is determining the intention and adoption of EVs. Keywords: Intention, Adoption, Religiosity, Electric Vehicle, Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). 1. Introduction and Background The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) is an action plan to create a better and sustainable future for all. The goals are designed to address the global issues we are facing including pollution, climate change, global warming, the greenhouse effect, and environmental degradation. Necessity action to combat this challenge is imperative to save lives and livelihoods. In 2021, the global greenhouse effect has reached a new record that has resulted in the warmest temperature so far. To limit the warming effect globally, greenhouse emissions must decline to net zero by 2050 (UN SDG Summit, 2023). The transportation sector is the main source of greenhouse gas emissions which account for 28 percent of the total emissions in 2021 (United State Environmental Protection Agency, 2023). Carbon dioxide (CO2) from the sector is 28.8 percent and well higher than the global average of 24.5 percent (International Energy Agency -IEA 2019). In Malaysia, the sector drives for 96 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions and road transport is responsible as the largest emitter of CO2. The emission mainly comes from burning fossil fuels since over 94 percent of the fuel is petroleum-based (petrol and diesel). Moreover, rapid development and growing population have caused a significant increase in the demand for transportation in this country. This has also resulted in the continuing growth of greenhouse gas emissions. This sector is undeniably devastating the environment and causes various forms of pollution, diseases, and damage to the environment. Environmental sustainability has become an urgent problem that cannot be avoided and ignored. To mitigate the greenhouse effect in the road transportation sector, Malaysia is articulating a blueprint to reduce emissions through significant national contribution. As such, Malaysia is committed to further promote and adopt energy-efficient vehicles to reduce its carbon footprint under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2030 on climate change. The adoption of EVs is targeted to achieve the SDG in improving energy efficiency (Goal 7), to create inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable cities (Goal 11), and