Political Ideology and U.S. Electric Vehicle Adoption

Lucas W. Davis, Jing Li, and Katalin Springel

May 2026

The prospect for electric vehicles (EVs) as a climate change solution hinges on their widespread adoption across political lines. This paper uses county-level data to show that from 2012-2023, about half of all new EV registrations in the U.S. went to the 10% most Democratic counties, and about one-third went to the top 5%. This correlation is largely stable over time, and remains after controlling for household income, gasoline prices, and other observables. EV trucks are a small share of the EV market, but show a lower correlation than other EV types. We also conducted a survey, finding little difference in the ability of Democrats and Republicans to answer questions about EVs.

JEL Codes: D12, H23, Q48, Q50