The implementation of personal carbon trading (PCT) to influence transport choices has recently been suggested as a method to reduce private carbon emissions. In this study, we conducted a choice experiment in Jiangsu, China, to evaluate if PCT influences individual decisions to adopt battery electric vehicles (BEVs). The results showed that PCT can effectively change the decision to adopt and encourage the adoption of BEVs. PCT was shown to be more effective than free parking as well as eliminating road tolls, vehicle and vessel tax, and purchase tax, but less effective than government subsidies. In addition, we found that improving some BEV performance attributes was preferred to policy incentives, including PCT. These results improve our understanding of the effectiveness of PCT and the individual decision to adopt BEVs. Our findings could facilitate the practical implementation of PCT and provide suitable guidelines for developing BEV promotion strategies.