Potential costs and benefits of a right-to-charge policy: an example for Switzerland

Abstract

Electric vehicles (EVs) are essential to decarbonize individual mobility and their adoption is highly dependent on the possibility of charging at home. However, tenants in multi-family apartment buildings face legal and financial barriers to the installation of home-charging. Through this study for Switzerland, we make the case of the economic benefits of a policy overcoming these barriers. Through an extrapolation of the EV diffusions towards 2035, we show that the benefits of switching towards EVs are overwhelming positive for its users and for society in general. The acceleration of EV adoption through a right-to-charge policy can potentially benefit the Swiss population by about 12 billion USD, corresponding to about 1.5 percent of GDP. Failing to implement an easy access to home charging-infrastructure in a timely manner will results in a considerable loss for the Swiss economy, eventually at the costs of citizens and the climate.