Investing in the future of mobility: The role of US local governments in building EV infrastructure

Abstract

As US local governments take on increasingly important roles in building out the infrastructure required to support a large-scale shift to electric vehicles, what factors motivate their decisions? Are they more responsive to bottom-up pressures from within their jurisdictions or top-down incentives or constraints from the state and national governments? We test hypotheses about the drivers of local government decision-making with data from a recent survey of US local government officials. Leveraging the unique timing of our study, which was launched just after massive new federal resources were announced, we find that bottom-up pressures remain central drivers of local government action. These results shed new light on the role of local government in the development of new infrastructure systems, in general, and in the transition to a national electric vehicle network, in particular.