Suggested Citation:
Jenn, Alan, Jae Hyun Lee, Scott Hardman, Gil Tal (2019) An Examination of the Impact That Electric Vehicle Incentives Have on Consumer Purchase Decisions Over Time. Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California, Davis, Research Report UCD-ITS-RR-19-05

We investigate the impacts of a combination of incentives on the purchase decisions of electric vehicle (EV) buyers in California from 2010 through 2017. We employ a comprehensive survey on over 14,000 purchasers of EVs in California. The survey covers a range of purchase intentions, general demographics, and the importance of various incentives. Our results indicate that the most important incentives for plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) owners are the federal tax credit, the state rebate, and HOV lane access. In addition, the importance of the incentives and their associated effect on purchase behavior has been changing over time: respondents are more likely to change their decisions and to not buy a vehicle at all as time passes and the technology moves away from early adopters.

Key words: electric vehicles, incentives, high occupancy vehicle lanes, consumer behavior, automobile ownership