Sustainable Transportation: Evidence from the Role of Charging Infrastructure in Norway
Abstract
This thesis examines how the installation of fast charging infrastructure influences
the adoption of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in Norwegian municipalities.
Building on Schulz and Rode's (2022) research, our study differentiates between
fast and slow chargers while also controlling for economic regions to reduce
potential spillover effects. The data set contains observations from 252 rural
Norwegian municipalities between 2010 and 2019. The change in electric vehicle
share following installation of fast charging infrastructure is analyzed using a
Difference-in-Difference methodology and presented as event studies with
municipalities that received fast charging installations serving as the treatment
group, while those without such installations act as the control group. Our study
finds that the installation of the first public fast charging station in a municipality
increases BEV adoption rates by 1.4 percentage points over a 5-year period. When
controlling for economic regions to reduce potential spillover effects, the increase
was 1.7 percentage points for the same period. This suggests that the original
study by Schulz and Rode (2022) may have underestimated the actual impact by
not fully capturing the positive externalities of charging infrastructure in
neighboring municipalities. In both cases, initial effects are modest in the first two
years but show a notable rise by the fifth year, indicating a sustained positive
impact over time. This suggests that fast charging infrastructure significantly
boosts electric vehicle adoption. When expanding the analysis to include slow
charging infrastructure, similar adoption trends were observed. These findings
highlight consistent influences such as consumer preferences, government
incentives, and environmental focus, which drive adoption regardless of charging
type. Overall, this study provides insights into the relationship between charging
infrastructure and electric vehicle adoption.
Description
Masteroppgave(MSc) in Master of Science in Business, Economics - Handelshøyskolen BI, 2024