Equal charging for all: Are there income-based disparities in public charging stations?

Abstract

We compare charging station accessibility for different income groups in the San Francisco Bay Area. Using a microsimulation model, we estimate charging station accessibility under varying battery range scenarios, assuming different income groups have vehicles with different battery ranges. We conduct the analysis based on charging station availability in each traffic analysis zone in the Bay Area (N = 1442). Contrary to the general notion of unequal access to public charging stations across different income groups, we found that the disparity was minimal. Assuming a full fleet of EVs and the current level of charging infrastructure, the success rate for all income groups is low but similar using 2035 trip-level data. This finding highlights the need to build more charging infrastructure. To achieve a 95% charging success rate, we provide an estimate of the additional charging ports required in the San Francisco Bay Area.