A tale of two investments: Charging stations and purchase subsidies for EV adoption

Liao, Yanjun (Penny), Bei Luo and Elisheba Spiller

Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 2025, vol. 202, issue C

Abstract: Purchase subsidies and public investment in charging infrastructure are both major policy approaches for promoting electric vehicle (EV) adoption, yet little is known about their interactions. If an increase in charging stations makes the purchase subsidy relatively less important in the purchase decision, the subsidy will be less cost-effective. Leveraging survey data in California, however, we find the opposite: specifically, that charging station density increases the additionality of purchase rebates, particularly for lower-income buyers, as it allows more marginal buyers to enter the EV buyer pool. Overall, our findings reveal a complementary relationship between charging availability and purchase subsidies, highlighting the benefits of mixing the two approaches and income targeting in optimal policy design.

Keywords: Electric vehicle adoption; Purchase subsidy; Charging stations (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965856425003362
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:transa:v:202:y:2025:i:c:s0965856425003362

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/supportfaq.cws_home/regional
https://shop.elsevie ... _01_ooc_1&version=01

DOI: 10.1016/j.tra.2025.104703

Access Statistics for this article

Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice is currently edited by John (J.M.) Rose

More articles in Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().