How Does Charging Network Design Affect Electric Vehicle Adoption?

Abstract

The used car market is a critical element of the mass adoption of electric vehicles (EVs). However, most previous studies on EV adoption have focused only on new car markets. This report examines and compares the effects of charging infrastructure characteristics on preferences for electric vehicles among both new and used car buyers. This study used an online stated preference choice experiment involving private car owners in the U.S. Two separate latent class models with three classes each were built for used and new car buyers. The latent class model suggested that different groups of car buyers respond to different types of EV charging infrastructure. In addition, a detailed analysis of EV and charging infrastructure characteristics was conducted to support the roll-out of EVs. The results of this work can be applied to quantify the tradeoffs between different types of investments in charging infrastructure. For example, the models can be used to determine the factors that have the greatest effects on purchase choices: neighborhood slow charging stations near homes and workplaces, in-town fast charging stations, highway corridor fast charging, and conventional fast-charging versus extreme-fast-charging.