The Market for Lemon Batteries: Examining the Impact of Electric Vehicle Adoption in Urban, Suburban, and Rural Households

Abstract

Over the coming years the transportation system in the United States will likely undergo a profound shift, from a predominantly fossil fuel based system to one where most personal vehicles are electric. This shift will not occur all at once, but it may occur suddenly. The environmental benefits of reduced greenhouse gas emissions, as well as the increase in the costs of vehicle ownership, of this shift will be felt differently by everyone. This thesis analyzes the difference that households in urban, suburban, and rural will see in this shift to electric vehicles from fossil fuel powered vehicles. Largely due to the increase in miles driven in suburban and rural areas, households in urban areas will have less reductions with a smaller increase in cost-burden from personal vehicles, with rural households at the other end of the spectrum. However, urban households see a greater reduction in emissions per dollar spent in the transition than suburban and rural households.