Suggested Citation:
Jenn, Alan, Scott Hardman, J.H. Lee, Gil Tal (2019) Brief: Incentives for Plug-in Electric Vehicles Are Becoming More Important Over Time for Consumers. Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California, Davis, Research Report UCD-ITS-RR-19-38

Federal and state governments are offering incentives to those who purchase or lease plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs), which include both battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). Policymakers are beginning to consider the phase-out of these incentives and how a phase-out might impact PEV market growth. This brief highlights new research on the importance of incentives to consumers over time, based on survey data from 14,000 PEV-owning households in California between 2010 and 2017, collected and analyzed by the Plug-in Hybrid & Electric Vehicle Research Center at UC Davis. The PEV incentives included as part of this research are those currently available to Californian consumers: high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane access; the US federal tax credit, which offers up to $7,500 to PEV buyers; and the California Clean Vehicle Rebate Project (CVRP), which offers $1,500 for a PHEV, $2,500 for a BEV, and an additional $2,000 for low-income consumers.

Key words: Incentives, electric vehicles, consumer behavior