Targeted electric vehicle procurement incentives facilitate efficient abatement cost outcomes

Electric vehicles (EVs) are one solution to creating a transportation system that is more energy efficient, fosters greater energy security, and is less polluting. Existing public policy reflects this sentiment. Over the last two decades, various government-sponsored policies have been adopted to stimulate EV sales. The most notable – and ubiquitous – of these are procurement incentives. However, the effectiveness of this policy as a pathway to emissions reductions depends on the cost-to-emissions advantage EVs offer over gasoline powered vehicles. Under what conditions is this advantage realized? Using publicly available data, the authors estimate the precursors – with foci on aggregate mileage and battery longevity - required for EVs to achieve an array of abatement cost thresholds. Their findings are fourfold. First, they illustrate that increased aggregate vehicle utilization – ceteris paribus – decreases implied abatement cost. Second, the authors find that, after accounting for battery replacements, requisite aggregate utilization for EV-incentive policies to achieve cost parity with alternatives can greatly exceed existing ownership trends, depending on the targeted abatement cost and vehicle ownership period. Third, they document that – owing to their sole emphasis on EV procurement rather than utilization – existing policy fails to accommodate these preconditions. Fourth, the authors demonstrate that electrical grid decarbonization may be insufficient to produce efficient abatement cost outcomes for EVs. Addressing these inefficiencies necessitates – they conclude – adopting procurement incentivize programs that reward utilization rather than acquisition alone. Doing so would also address long-standing distributional concerns surrounding such programs.

• Record URL:
  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2023.104627
• Record URL:
  http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221067072300238X
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/22106707
• Supplemental Notes:
  • © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Abstract reprinted with permission of Elsevier.
• Authors:
  • Woodley, Lucas
  • Rossetti, Philip
  • Nunes, Ashley
  • 0000-0001-6821-7837
• Publication Date: 2023-9

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: References;
• Pagination: 104627
• Serial:
  • Sustainable Cities and Society
  • Volume: 96
  • Issue Number: 0
  • Publisher: Elsevier
  • ISSN: 2210-6707
  • Serial URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/22106707?sdc=2

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Air quality management; Electric vehicles; Incentives; Life cycle analysis; Policy; Procurement
• Geographic Terms: United States
• Subject Areas: Economics; Energy; Environment; Highways; Policy; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01885543
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jun 22 2023 9:49AM