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Title: An Analysis of California Electric Vehicle Incentive Distribution and Vehicle Registration Rates Since 2015
Citation Type: Miscellaneous
Publication Year: 2002
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Abstract: California is a national leader in promoting electric vehicle (EV) adoption. It maintains ambitious targets for light- and heavy-duty fleet turnover, including a mandate requiring that all passenger vehicles sold in the state be zero-emission by 2035. In support of these goals, the state has long operated several light-duty clean vehicle incentive programs that provide financial support for households to purchase a new electric vehicle, often by replacing an older internal combustion engine vehicle (ICEV). This suite of programs includes the Clean Vehicle Rebate Project (CVRP) as well as several more recently developed equity-focused opportunities, such as Clean Cars for All (CC4A), which limit participation to low- and moderate-income households. These programs targeting low-income populations can help ensure no populations are left behind and will support a just transition to clean energy. This report considers the distributional impacts of these programs, especially for equity. We assess six programs: three statewide – CVRP, the Clean Vehicle Assistance Program (CVAP), and the California Clean Fuel Reward (CCFR) – and three regional – CC4A, Drive Clean in the San Joaquin Rebate Program (DCSJ-RP), and the Southern California Edison Pre-Owned EV Rebate Program (SCE-PreOR). We not only evaluate the effectiveness of incentives in benefiting California’s disadvantaged populations, but also characterize the potential impact these incentives have on electric vehicle uptake rates throughout the state. The researchers use data sources about vehicle fleet characterization, distribution of incentive funds, and measures of socioeconomic and environmental burden in communities across California. We first examined the total dollars distributed by the six aforementioned clean vehicle incentive programs. Since 2010, more than $1.9 billion has been allocated through the programs via nearly 1 million individual incentive awards. Nearly 128,000 awards (approximately $314 million) were distributed to households in disadvantaged communities (DACs) as defined by Senate Bill 535 (2012). We find, as suggested by previous research, that CVRP (by far the largest program historically) is heavily skewed towards benefitting non-DAC tracts, with only 12.1% of its funds distributed to recipients in DAC tracts throughout the lifetime of the program. We found similar results for the two other statewide programs, CVAP and CCFR. In comparison, the three regional programs – CC4A, DCSJ-RP, and SCE-PreOR – have been more effective at delivering funds to DAC and lower-income tracts (e.g., 52% of funds distributed within DAC tracts for CC4A).
Url: https://escholarship.org/content/qt7ht4t1km/qt7ht4t1km.pdf
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Authors: Connolly, Rachel; Coffee, Daniel; Pierce, Gregory
Publisher: UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation
Data Collections: IPUMS NHGIS
Topics: Natural Resource Management
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