Assessing Progress and Equity in the Distribution of EV Rebates

Published in the research journal Transport Policy, this study uses a large amount of relatively recent data and some simple but powerful metrics to inform conversations about the equity of electric vehicle (EV) incentives. It examines demographic and housing metrics to assess where progress is being made and where it needs to be made to increase equity and the widespread adoption of EVs.

Further, it breaks down:

1) Differences between the general population and new-car buyers.

2) Differences between new-car buyers and EV rebate recipients. 

Doing so highlights where, and the degree to which, previous findings that used census data might be more about structural inequities in new-car buying rather than particular to EVs. This helps inform effective strategies for addressing each component of the challenge that remains.

The report:

• Updates previous demographic characterizations of EV rebate recipients.
• Compares new-car buyers in general with new EV buyers to inform conversations about EVs, incentives and equity.
• Shows that home ownership and male gender are associated with new EV purchases more particularly than some metrics of income or race.
• Develops heat map tables and other metrics to measure progress toward EV adoption by mainstream markets and priority populations.