Technology Adoption and Early Network Infrastructure Provision in the Market for Electric Vehicles

Area of Science:

• Economics
• Transportation Studies
• Environmental Science

Background:

• Emerging technologies like electric vehicles (EVs) require supportive infrastructure.
• Network effects and consumer behavior, such as range anxiety, influence technology adoption.
• Understanding the interplay between infrastructure and adoption is crucial for policy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the non-linear relationship between electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure and EV adoption.
• To quantify the impact of charging infrastructure on EV sales.
• To provide evidence for effective policy interventions.

Main Methods:

• Utilized 2010-2017 data from 422 Norwegian municipalities covering diverse stages of EV market maturity.
• Employed control function regressions with flexible polynomials to model EV sales and charging infrastructure stock.
• Applied synthetic control methods to assess the impact of initial infrastructure deployment.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated significant non-linear stock effects of charging stations and charging points on EV adoption.
• Evidence suggests indirect network effects play a role in EV uptake.
• Quantified the positive impact of early charging infrastructure provision on EV sales.

Conclusions:

• Early investment in charging infrastructure is a key policy lever to incentivize electric vehicle (EV) adoption.
• Addressing range anxiety through visible infrastructure is critical for market growth.
• Findings support proactive infrastructure development strategies for emerging technologies.