Measuring the equity impacts of government subsidies for electric vehicles

A shift to electric vehicles (EV) is seen as one of the main methods to decarbonise the transportation sector. However, issues have also been raised regarding charging infrastructure, EV reliability and range, as well as the battery environmental and social credentials. Notwithstanding governments, intergovernmental organisations, and research entities have ploughed ahead to promote this transition, but the challenge is the uptake and public acceptance. Grants and financial subsidies have been developed to facilitate this shift. Our study investigates the characteristics of the private EV household charger population using a regression model and spatial analysis to determine the influences of income, car ownership and economic status on EV take up rates. Data on the installation of EV household chargers are used in this paper as a proxy for EV ownership, due to data limitations. The results indicate that 1) urban areas are more likely to see higher concentrations of EV ownership, 2) an income and equity gap exists between those that have adapted electric mobility. This finding is very important because it suggests that lower income categories may have a financial barrier to shifting to EVs.(c) 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Automated summary

The shift to electric vehicles is considered an important step to reduce carbon emissions in the transportation sector. However, challenges related to charging infrastructure, reliability, range, and environmental impact of batteries need to be addressed. This study analyzes the characteristics of private EV household charger population and finds that urban areas have higher concentrations of EV ownership while lower income categories may face financial barriers to adopting EVs.