In most places, people aren't buying brand new electric cars—the "green revolution" is actually just a wave of used EVs from other cities.
SSRN · March 18, 2026 · 6431110
The Takeaway
Most urban planning for charging infrastructure assumes EV adoption is driven by local new car sales. In reality, a massive 'secondary market flow' reshapes regional fleets, meaning some areas become EV-heavy purely by importing young used cars from wealthier neighboring regions.
From the abstract
For planning the electrification of road transport, charging infrastructure development must be dimensioned and prioritized locally. Thereby, the combined spatial and temporal diffusion patterns of electric vehicle (EV) stocks play a crucial role. Yet, most studies analyse EV diffusion at aggregated spatial scales, e.g., national or state level. Even when spatial detail is considered, existing approaches typically model the diffusion of new registrations or treat vehicle stocks as aggregate quan