Project Summary
It has become axiomatic that growth of electric vehicle (EV) markets is partially contingent on increasing amounts of EV charging infrastructure. This axiom is driving billions of dollars of public spending on EV charging. Infrastructures role is argued to be twofold; it can encourage consumers (especially those who don’t own an EV) to purchase EVs and it can increase use of EVs. Success at either of these depends on consumers, in particular those who don’t already own EVs, seeing charging infrastructure in their local environment. It is not enough that chargers exist, people must (at least) perceive their existence and have either or both an expectation chargers are discoverable or an actual, if partial, mental map of charging locations. We investigate relationships between charging infrastructure density, whether people report seeing it, and the impact on the consideration to purchase an EV. Data on car-owning households (all cars, not EVs) are from a survey completed in 2019 by 3,636 respondents across California. These data will be supplemented by data on the contemporaneous (with the survey) counts of charging locations and EV registrations around survey participants’ home locations.
