Early-stage policy formulation for electric vehicle infrastructure development: Key processes, considerations and priorities

Research on electric vehicles (EVs) policies continues to flourish as governments and industries advance policy initiatives to encourage infrastructure development to support EV deployment. Complementing the abundant studies that characterize existing EV policies and/or evaluate their impacts, this research sheds light on policy formulation for EV infrastructure development at the local level. Our study highlights how local governments and utilities consider and prioritize key EV issues in the early stages of policy planning, design, and implementation to support EV infrastructure. Such issues include electricity rate setting, charging infrastructure development, and stakeholder engagement. We further evaluate the extent to which early policy formulation reflects consideration of distributional, procedural and recognitional aspects of EV benefits and costs. Drawing on interview and secondary data from local governments and utilities in the extended Northern Virginia region, we find: (1) Electricity rate setting involves consideration of investments, time-of-use pricing, and energy demands; (2) Decisions regarding siting and installation of charging facilities are shaped by convenience, accessibility, affordability, feasibility, and economic development considerations; (3) Governments and utilities have broadly considered the distribution of benefits and costs of EV infrastructure development in their planning and implementation efforts; (4) Stakeholder engagement efforts have largely featured one-way information provision and public education, offering few opportunities for communities to participate in the decision-making processes; (5) Organizations widely acknowledge the challenges that some communities may face during the EV transition; nevertheless, this recognition is not consistently supported by assessments of specific needs and gaps across communities. We conclude with policy recommendations for jurisdictions in the early stages of transportation electrification.