Show Me the Money! A Field Experiment on Electric Vehicle Charge Timing

Megan R. Bailey, David Brown, Blake Shaffer and Frank A. Wolak

American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 2025, vol. 17, issue 2, 259-84

Abstract: We use a field experiment to measure the effectiveness of financial incentives to shift the timing of electric vehicle (EV) charging. EV owners respond strongly to financial incentives, reducing charging during peak hours by 49 percent by shifting to off-peak hours. In contrast, a prosocial information treatment has no discernible effect. When financial incentives are removed, charge timing reverts to pre-intervention behavior, reinforcing that "money matters." Our findings highlight the substantial flexibility of EV charging compared to other forms of electricity demand. Such flexibility has the potential to greatly reduce future electric system costs arising from a rapidly decarbonizing transportation sector.

JEL-codes: C93 D12 D91 L92 L94 Q48 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1257/pol.20230653

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