Suggested Citation:
Sanguinetti, Angela and Kenneth S. Kurani (2020) Characteristics and Experiences of Ride-Hailing Drivers with Plug-in Electric Vehicles. Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California, Davis, Research Report UCD-ITS-RR-20-12

Electrification of transportation network companies (TNCs; e.g., Uber and Lyft) presents a path for reduced emissions as well as potential benefits to drivers via reduced costs for fueling and vehicle maintenance. This report describes 732 TNC PEV drivers in the United States in terms of their demographic characteristics, motivations for driving PEVs on TNCs, charging patterns, and ideas to improve the experience of driving PEVs on TNCs. Greater understanding of these early adopters can inform strategies to promote further adoption. The economic benefits of fuel and maintenance savings associated with PEVs featured in drivers’ reported motivations for PEV adoption. Most BEV and PHEV drivers reported charging their PEV every day, most often at home and overnight, and most were willing to charge once or more while actively driving on TNCs. A large cluster of TNC PEV drivers reported predominately using public DC fast charging, indicating a heavy reliance on public charging infrastructure. Range limitations topped the list of reasons why PHEV drivers did not opt for a BEV, and increased range topped the list of PEV drivers’ wishes to better support PEVs on TNCs. The next most common wish was for more charger locations. The third and fourth ranked wishes were financial bonuses for trip targets and more pre-trip information, which are more exclusively under the control of TNCs.