An Economic Analysis of Electricity Consumption and Electric Vehicle Adoption in California from 2010 to 2021

This paper examines the impact of electric vehicles on total annual electricity consumption across 58 counties in California from 2010 to 2021. Employing a log linear model to analyze the relationship between electricity consumption and EV ownership, alongside a linear log model with an instrumental variable approach, the study finds that annual per capita electricity consumption increased by 0.23% for each additional electric vehicle per 10,000 residents over the 12 years period. The analysis identifies partisanship, measured as the annual percentage of voter registration for the Democratic Party by county, as a robust instrumental variable. Specifically, a 1% increase in Democratic voter registration corresponds to the adoption of approximately two additional EVs per 10,000 residents.