The Influence of Public Charging Infrastructure Deployment and Other Socio-Economic Factors on Electric Vehicle Adoption in France

Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) offer a promising choice to replace fossil-fuel dependent Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles with a low-emission transport solution. To overcome barriers hindering the purchasing activity, governments, automotive manufacturers, and charging infrastructure operators have deployed market-boosting initiatives. Here, we analyze the influence of socio-demographic, technical, and economic factors on the BEV and PHEV markets, separately, in French departments from 2015 to 2019, using fixed-and random-effects panel data regressions. We find BEV/PHEV models numbers and the gasoline price positively associated with both BEV and PHEV adoption. Contrary to slow-and-normal charger density, fast, ultrafast chargers and financial incentives boost the BEV market. Regarding the PHEV model, only fast charger density had a significant and negative influence on the sales from all charging powers densities. Based on the results, policy recommendations are discussed for the automotive industry, the charging operator, and the local authorities.