Resources for the Future Inc.
10/24/2025 | Press release | Archived content
A Tale of Two Investments: Charging Stations and Purchase Subsidies for EV Adoption
A Tale of Two Investments: Charging Stations and Purchase Subsidies for EV Adoption
This article examines survey data from California and finds that a greater density of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations increases purchase rebates-incentives that benefit lower-income buyers.
Date
Oct. 24, 2025
Authors
Yanjun (Penny) Liao, Bei Luo, and Beia Spiller
Publication
Journal Article in ScienceDirectReading time
1 minuteAbstract
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.
Topics
- Electric Vehicles
- Transportation
Topics
- Electric Vehicles
- Transportation
Authors
Yanjun (Penny) Liao
Fellow
Yanjun (Penny) Liao is a fellow at Resources for the Future.
Bei Luo
Economist, Amazon
Beia Spiller
Fellow; Director, Transportation Program
Beia Spiller is a fellow and the director for RFF's Transportation Program. Her recent research has focused around electric vehicles and environmental justice, exploring some of the most pressing issues around electric car, truck and bus adoption.
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Resources for the Future Inc. published this content on October 24, 2025, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on November 13, 2025 at 21:49 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]