| Abstract: |
We use a field experiment to measure the effectiveness of financial incentives
and moral suasion “nudges” to shift the timing of electric vehicle (EV)
charging. We find EV owners respond strongly to financial incentives, while
nudges have no statistically discernible effect. When financial incentives are
removed, charge timing reverts to pre-intervention behavior, showing no
evidence of habit formation and reinforcing our finding that “money matters”.
Our charge price responsiveness estimate is an order of magnitude larger than
typical household electricity consumption elasticities. This result highlights
the greater flexibility of EV charging over other forms of residential
electricity demand. |