How can California Best Promote Electric Vehicle Adoption? The Effect of Public Charging Station Availability on EV Adoption

To promote higher air quality and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the Californian government is investing heavily in developing public charging infrastructure to meet its electric vehicle adoption goal of five million zero-emission vehicles on the road by 2030. This thesis investigates the effect of public charging infrastructure availability on electric vehicle adoption at the zip code level in California. The analysis considers other factors that may influence electric vehicle adoption such as education level, income, commute time, gas prices, and public transportation rate. The findings suggest that public charging infrastructure availability does significantly positively correlate with electric vehicle registrations. Linear regressions were run using data from the U.S Department of Energy Alternative Fuels Data Center, IHS Markit vehicle registration data, and the US Census Bureau. The findings support continued investment in public charging infrastructure as a means of promoting electric vehicle adoption