Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Electric vehicle (EV) adoption has increased significantly over the past several years. More than 640,000 light-duty plug-in EVs were sold in the US in 2021, which was more than twice the number sold in 2020.  State regulators and policymakers are addressing barriers to EV adoption, integration of EVs into the electricity system, and the equitable sharing of benefits among EV owners and other electricity customers. One of the most significant activities among state utility regulators is the development of EV-specific retail rates that reflect different objectives and design options. The technical brief introduces and describes EV retail rate design, including motivations, metering configurations, cost recovery approaches, energy and demand charges (e.g., time-differentiated rate designs, locational-differentiated rate designs), charging controls, interactive grid services, and load flexibility. We synthesize recent experience and identify resources for more detail and additional information.