Do more chargers mean more electric cars? What’s about complementarities? — Stephan Sommer

Speaker

Stephan Sommer (RWI, Leibniz Institute for Economic Research)

Abstract

To buck the trend of rising CO2 emissions in the transportation sector, several European governments have introduced programs that promote electric vehicles (EVs). One frequently cited impediment to their uptake is insufficient charging infrastructure. Drawing on panel data from Germany, this paper estimates the relationship between public charging infrastructure and the uptake of EVs. We find that charging infrastructure has a statistically significant and positive impact on EV uptake, particularly in areas with high population density. In addition, the positive effect of charging infrastructure has been amplified by the increase in the subsidy level for the uptake of EVs. Thus, the promotion of EVs and of charging infrastructure seem to be complementary.

Authors

Stephan Sommer (RWI, Leibniz Institute for Economic Research) – Colin Vance (RWI, Leibniz Institute for Economic Research; Jacobs University Bremen)

Room

Virtuall via Zoom
If interested, please send an Email to frank.bickenbach@ifw-kiel.de to receive a Zoom-Link to the seminar.