Hybrid and Battery Electric Vehicles: Ownership and Adoption Dynamics

The California legislature has adopted ambitious goals to reduce the state’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.  Starting in 2006, Assembly Bill (AB) 32 aimed at reducing GHG emissions to the 1990 level by 2020.  In 2017, AB 398 set a new 2030 target of reducing by 40% below 1990 levels.  California Executive Order B-55-18, signed in September 2018 by Governor Brown took the further step of achieving carbon neutrality by 2045.  Achieving these goals will require substantial efforts from all sectors of the economy.  For transportation, it entails reducing vehicles miles traveled, stimulating the use of public transportation and active modes, and replacing vehicles powered by internal combustion engines with hybrid or battery electric vehicles. Our interest here is on the latter as switching to hybrid and battery electric vehicles enables reducing the environmental footprint of transportation, especially as an increasingly large percentage of the California power grid is fed by wind and solar power.  More specifically, this research project focuses on two questions: 1) Who are the adopters of hybrid and battery electric vehicles? and 2) What are the dynamics of adoption of hybrid and electric vehicles?