Do Gasoline Prices Influence Electric Vehicle Usage? Evidence From the U.S.

This paper examines how households with electric vehicles (EVs) adjust their charging and driving behaviors in response to short-term fluctuations in gasoline prices. Using a novel dataset of over 5,000 battery EVs across the U.S. from 2021-2022, we find that a 1% increase in gasoline prices is associated with a 0.35% rise in average daily EV miles traveled. This response is significantly stronger in areas with greater access to charging infrastructure, particularly DC fast chargers. We argue that this behavior primarily results from intra-household substitution within multi-vehicle households owning both EVs and internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs), where higher fuel costs shift miles between vehicles. Higher gasoline prices also increase the share of away-from-home charging, suggesting EV owners found new charging opportunities in response to higher gasoline prices. These results suggest that carbon taxes could increase EV usage, but their effectiveness depends on complementary investments in charging infrastructure. Our findings inform policies that leverage price incentives to reduce transportation emissions.