Abstract:

One of the key strategies for decarbonizing the transportation industry is the switch to electric vehicles (EV). However, issues have also been raised regarding charging infrastructure, EV reliability, range, and battery environmental and social credentials. Notwithstanding, governments, intergovernmental organizations, 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. This 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 adopted electric mobility. This finding is significant because it suggests that lower-income categories may have a financial barrier to shifting to EVs.