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Understanding underserved community households’ awareness, knowledge, and perceptions of ZEVs - California’s ambitious climate goals include various policies looking to promote zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) market growth and create an equitable transition. Underserved communities may face barriers that prevent higher rates of adoption, however little research exists on their perceptions of ZEVs and whether they would purchase one. In this study, we explore underserved community households’ awareness, knowledge, and perceptions of ZEVs for a more nuanced understanding of views on ZEVs and barriers to adoption. We analyze survey data of a random sample of priority population households in California. The survey was administered between December 2023 and June 2024, the sample was randomly drawn from the USPS database and stratified by census tract and tract priority type (DAC tracts (including tribal tracts), low-income tracts, and households who are low income in non-priority tracts). A total of 2151 survey responses were used as part of this analysis. We use a Step-3 latent class model to first identify distinct classes based on observed responses, then build a multinomial logistic regression model to analyze the relationship between classes and independent variables related to demographics, built environment, and attitudes. We identify five latent classes: Active Supporters who actively think about BEVs and have stronger positive perceptions, Passive Supporters who think less actively and have neutral to positive perceptions of BEVs, the Unengaged who have neutral perceptions and no active thinking of BEVs, Passive Resisters who think less actively about BEVs and have neutral to negative perceptions, and Active Resisters who actively think about BEVs and have stronger negative perceptions. We find that over 90% of the sample is not strongly opposed to BEVs indicating potential for adoption. The multinomial logistic regression model reveals that Active Supporters are likely to live in regions characterized by higher ZEV adoption and access to charging, tend to be younger, home-owning, and White, and express pro-environment, pro-technology, and pro-mixed land use attitudes. The Unengaged have mostly unformed opinions on BEVs while Resisters are unlikely to purchased BEVs based on their current perceptions and have high levels of self-knowledge. All classes appear to be concerned about public charging. The results indicate that while a small proportion of respondents are actively opposed to ZEVs, several heterogenous groups exist with varying perceptions and considerations that may be open to adoption. As such, different policy measures may be required to address the needs of each class to encourage ZEV adoption. Expanding policy support to address persisting barriers can help to address mobility needs in these communities.
