CEE Seminar: Unreliable Public Charging Undermines the Electric Vehicle Market

Abstract: How does the reliability of public charging infrastructure affect electric vehicle (EV) adoption? Using data from a nationwide survey, we employ a choice model to quantify the effects of perceived charging reliability on Americans’ intentions to purchase new or used EVs. By randomly assigning participants to receive information characterizing public charging as either very reliable or very unreliable, we show a causal effect of reliability perceptions on EV purchase intentions. We find that differences in perceived reliability are equivalent to a 22% purchase price change or 284 miles of EV range, underscoring the importance of reliable public charging.

Bio: Don MacKenzie leads the Sustainable Transportation Lab at the University of Washington, where he is the Allan & Inger Osberg Associate Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering. Don holds a Ph.D. in engineering systems and master's in technology and policy, both from MIT, and a bachelor's in chemical and biological engineering from UBC in Vancouver, Canada. He serves on the editorial boards of Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment and the International Journal of Sustainable Transportation, and is the editor of the journal Energy Findings.