Suggested Citation:
Burlig, Fiona, James Bushnell, David Rapson, Catherine Wolfram (2024)

Estimating Residential Electric Vehicle Electricity Use

. Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California, Davis, Research Report UCD-ITS-RR-24-61

Abstract:

The widespread adoption of electric vehicles (EV) is a centerpiece of California’s strategy to reach net-zero carbon emissions, but it is not fully known how and where EVs are being used, and how and where they are being charged. This report provides the first at-scale estimate of EV home charging. Previous estimates were based on conflicting surveys or extrapolated from a small, unrepresentative sample of households with dedicated EV meters. We combined billions of hourly electricity meter measurements with address-level EV registration records from California households, including roughly 40,000 EV owners. The average EV increases overall household load by 2.9 kilowatt-hours per day, well under half the amount assumed by state regulators. Results imply that EVs travel less than expected on electric power, raising questions about transportation electrification for climate policy.