Project Summary
Policy makers in California and around the world consider electric vehicles (EVs) an important element of reducing urban air pollution, lowering carbon emissions, and reducing overall petroleum consumption. A central element of the vision of an electrified transportation sector powered by clean, renewable energy is understanding what induces consumers to adopt electric vehicles. The research team will examine whether consumers respond to one of the most commonly cited advantages of electric vehicle ownership – the potential operational cost savings an electric vehicle (EV) provides relative to an internal combustion engine. This project will provide some of the first evidence based on actual purchases that speaks directly to whether, and to what extent, consumers incorporate electricity prices into their vehicle purchase decisions. The researchers will match transaction-level data on EV sales in California to electric utility service territories and will estimate the extent to which vehicle buyers respond to electricity prices through two distinct, but complementary approaches: 1) Examining EV adoption in neighborhoods located along the boundary between two electric utilities with different electricity prices. By comparing whether EV adoption rates change discontinuously at the utility boundaries, the researchers can infer whether and how electricity prices affect EV adoption. 2) Pairing census tracts across the state of California based on demographics and other observable characteristics related to vehicle adoption. The researchers will test whether EV adoption is higher in the census tract in the “low-price” utility service territory.
