Building a Decision Support Tool for Optimal & Equitable Distribution of EV Charging Stations in NYC

Electric vehicles (EV) are key to the world’s decarbonization effort, but access to charging infrastructure may become a prominent adoption barrier, the burden of which will disproportionately affect low- and middle-income communities, communities of color, areas near multi-family housing, and residential and rural areas. Researchers led by Professor Yury Dvorkin, NYU Tandon, and Professor Burçin Ünel, Energy Policy Director at the Institute for Policy Integrity at NYU School of Law, set out to address the accessibility of EV charging to build a decision-support tool to inform where and how to provide optimal, equitable investments in EV charging infrastructure. In the first phase of their research, they found that availability and affordability of EV charging stations in NYC are more strongly associated with median household income and the percentage of white population in each zip code, rather than population density.

The team is hosting this update on their research so far, seeking input from primary stakeholders to understand the technological gaps that prevents widespread expansion of EV charging infrastructure and to encourage their continued participation in this research to drive practically feasible and ethical research outcomes.