Addressing electric vehicle (EV) sales and range anxiety through parking layout, policy and regulation Henry A. Bonges III a,⇑ , Anne C. Lusk b,1 a Sustainability and Environmental Management, Harvard Extension School, 5 Jackson Ln, Milton, VT 05468, United States b Department of Nutrition, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University, 665 Huntington Ave, Building II, Room 314, Boston, MA 02115, United States article info Article history: Received 11 January 2014 Received in revised form 16 June 2015 Accepted 22 September 2015 Available online 17 December 2015 Keywords: Electric vehicle Charging etiquette Charging legislation abstract Electric Vehicles (EV) are highly beneficial due to their reliance on electricity and Climate Change response yet EV sales are lower than would be expected due to range anxiety. If a potential buyer cannot be assured of having constantly-available and compatible charging stations, they will not purchase an EV. To increase the sales of EVs through improved char- ger availability, this paper examines parking configurations, charger design, convenient ‘‘EV only” parking, free charging, etiquette in unplugging another’s vehicle, and legislation. Data were derived from academic publications, trade market press, conversations, personal observations, and laws. The results show that chargers are often in a lot’s corner and thus accessible only to one vehicle, EV owners leave their charged car in the space, drivers use EV spaces for parking, etiquette cards are not understood, and legislation makes it illegal to unplug another’s EV. Improvements include less convenient charger spots, an octopus charger in the middle of the parking lot, modest charging fees to foster turnover, chargers that indicate an EV is charged, education and legislation about etiquette cards, and legisla- tion that allows an individual to unplug another’s charged EV. Improvements to charging should be implemented simultaneously to lessen range anxiety and realize the environ- mental benefits from reductions in gasoline consumption and mobile source air pollution. Ó 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). 1. Introduction Electric vehicles (EV) are Hybrid EV’s (HEV) or plug-in EV’s (PEV). HEV’s are powered by an internal combustion engine (ICE) that charges the battery as part of its normal operation of propelling the vehicle. PEV’s, the vehicles primarily discussed in this paper, are either plug-in hybrid electric (PHEV), with both electric and ICE propulsion, or battery electric (BEV), which is electric propulsion only. Both the PHEV and the BEV are charged by plugging into a suitable EV charger. Though consumers want to respond to Climate Change and are further encouraged to purchase an EV due to incentives (Government incentives for plug-in electric vehicles, 2013), range anxiety keeps some from buying an EV. Without a guar- antee they can easily recharge their vehicle, the risk is too great for the cost of the vehicle. Recent research has revealed that the consumer’s decision to buy an EV is tied directly to availability of recharging stations (Krupa et al., 2014; Li et al., 2015). Thus, the biggest inhibitor to buying a PEV is the limited driving range before a charge is needed (Infographic: Owning Electric Cars, BEVs, and PHEVs – Union of Concerned Scientists, 2013). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2015.09.011 0965-8564/Ó 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). ⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 802 578 1682. E-mail addresses: henrybonges@g.harvard.edu (H.A. Bonges III), annelusk@hsph.harvard.edu (A.C. Lusk). 1 Tel.: +1 617 432 7076. Transportation Research Part A 83 (2016) 63–73 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Transportation Research Part A journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tra brought to you by CORE View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk provided by Elsevier - Publisher Connector