Rapid growth in electric vehicle adoption has raised the question of how electric cars affect the electricity rates paid by all households, including those that do not own EVs. To answer this question, Synapse compared the electric utility revenues from EV charging with utility costs associated with serving EV load, including the costs of utility EV programs. The results of our analysis indicate that, since 2011, EVs have contributed much more in utility revenues than costs.
The vast majority of all revenue generated by EV charging comes from drivers in the western US, primarily because of California’s rapid adoption of the technology. As of 2022, the 1.1 million EVs registered in California accounted for 37% of all electric cars in the US, according to the Energy Information Administration.In many communities, especially in California, utility companies rely on time-of-use rates that differ depending on the time of day.
Dean Merritt, UK head of sales for Indicata, said, “Price parity is vital for electric cars in the used market as consumers are now being offered all the latest fuel types at similar prices, where before used EVs were commanding a 25 to 30 percent price premium, which put buyers off going electric. Price parity is fueling demand just as the volumes of used EVs, particularly ex-fleet cars, are increasing, which is good news for the entire industry.