Effectiveness of PEV incentives

[ChadS]

I am looking for numbers on how effective various PEV (plug-in electric vehicle) incentives are. Know of any?

I hope to write a report that will assist stakeholders in deciding which incentives to provide. I have a very broad definition of “incentive” – basically anything that somebody can do to try to get more people to buy PEVs. That could include:

• direct financial – discounts, rebates, tax credits/deductions/waivers, etc
• indirect financial – favorable electric rate plans, discounted charger, free charging, loyalty/reward program, dealer spiffs, etc
• convenience – premium parking, HOV lane access, etc
• infrastructure – charger at home or work, widespread public L1/L2, DC metro or corridor buildout, etc
• outreach – advertising, mailings, social media, event booths, ride/drive events, etc

I am interested in any attempt to measure how effective these incentives are at getting people to buy a PEV – surveys, incentive take rates, comparative sales rates, etc. While I will be pleased to find precise numbers (like, “78% increase”), don’t worry, I understand that the numbers are not necessarily accurate – there are just too many confounding factors. I will consider that in my analysis, which will not attempt to produce precise numbers.

I have a very long list of places to look for this sort of info; in fact there is so much PEV info out there these days (a good thing!) I fear I will miss valuable data as I attempt to sift through the piles of information in a time-effective manner. So if you recall an interesting study and send me a pointer to make sure I don’t miss it, I would greatly appreciate it!

 

[renim]

FWIW

Denmark has the highest incentives in europe, Norway has the second highest incentives in europe

why the profound contrast between the success of plugin in Norway, and historically the failure of plugin in Denmark is worth reflecting on.

 

[roguenode]

Three counties in Colorado participated in a short-term program in 2015 to reduce costs for residential solar and ev purchases. On the ev side, they partnered with Nissan dealerships for discounts. I purchased a Leaf through the program. It may not fit the scope of your report and I don't know of an official review of its effectiveness, but this local newspaper article asserts it was successful, selling over 200 leafs in the participating counties.

 

[ChadS]

Denmark has the highest incentives in europe, Norway has the second highest incentives in europe

why the profound contrast between the success of plugin in Norway, and historically the failure of plugin in Denmark is worth reflecting on.

Thank you. I will try to find specific numbers, but even without them that sounds like a great case study for the analysis section to help tease out some of the relevant variables. My work has been US-based so while I've heard a lot about Norway's success, I haven't followed it in detail.

Three counties in Colorado participated in a short-term program in 2015 to reduce costs for residential solar and ev purchases. On the ev side, they partnered with Nissan dealerships for discounts. I purchased a Leaf through the program. It may not fit the scope of your report and I don't know of an official review of its effectiveness, but this local newspaper article asserts it was successful, selling over 200 leafs in the participating counties.

Thanks; in November I corresponded with a couple of the organizers of that program about how they set it up. I will contact them again and see if they have final comparative sales rates - that would be a really good data point!

 

[Cobos]

I would add that the economic incentives was slightly higher in Denmark during purchase compared to other ICE-based vehicles, while for Norway it was a huge package of incentives.
In Norway you have no car tax and no VAT for pure EVs (plugin hybrids are favored but not nearly as much) which is the biggest purchase incentive. Then you have almost no yearly car tax for EVs (but that is just a $300 yearly savings) and also free passing of toll roads which for some users is a huge incentive. All public parking is free for EVs can also turn into huge savings based on usage. For me that is maybe $200 a year in savings. There are a couple hundred public charging points with 10A 230V free charging. Moneywise not a big thing with our very cheap electricity but very usefull for those without own parking garage. You have access to HOV lanes with some exceptions into Oslo, for some time savings of upto 1 hour each day. For others out in the boondocks no use.

The net effect of all this is that EVs are about 10-15% of all car sales, while hybrids (plugin and not) are about 10% of all car sales.

Cobos

 

[ChadS]

After about 4 weeks of staring at hundreds of studies, I wrote THIS report back in April. It took a few months to run through the review process at CalETC (the sponsor) and Plug In America, so it was just made available.

As CalETC was the sponsor, the audience was utilities in California. But I tried to write it so that section 3 could be pretty much applicable to anybody interested in encouraging the PEV market.

It doesn't really have any surprising revelations. PEV awareness and understanding is extremely low in the general population. The most effective way to promote PEVs seems to be a combination of:

• more media mentions to raise awareness
• more test drive opportunities to convince them they really want one
• financial incentives
• more charging infrastructure

One key takeaway is that there is really no single killer benefit. More incentives are better; they have almost an additive effect. The PEV market is missing so much in relation to the ICE market (this is briefly discussed in the optional section 2.1) that there is a lot to make up for.

Another takeaway is that no incentive is likely to work instantly by itself. Cars are most consumers' second-largest purchase, and they need time to get used to thinking about buying a car with very different propulsion and refueling. Time to adjust to the idea may be as important as the incentives themselves. This may be why an early start, multi-pronged approach works best.