Publications

The High Cost of Low Range: Estimating the Hidden Cost of Range Anxiety in Electric Vehicles

with Jonathan B. Scott
Journal of Industrial Economics, 74(1), 2026, pp. 140–158.
Published version

Abstract. Electric vehicle (EV) drivers experience range anxiety (RA) due to a gap between latent travel demand and battery range. Low fuel prices or limited range exacerbate RA. Range relevance diminishes under high fuel prices, as driving demand is suppressed, while low fuel prices have small effects on RA when range is sufficiently high. We formalize and estimate RA, leveraging the implicit interaction between local electricity prices and range. Results suggest average prospective EV consumers expect $2500–3400/year welfare costs through the RA mechanism. These estimates have strong implications for policies targeting EV ownership, underscoring another channel EV costs exceed conventional vehicles.

Working Papers

The Long Run Costs of Short Run Mispricing: How Dynamic Generation Costs and Local Traffic Patterns Shape the Charging Network

with Jonathan B. Scott
Draft

Abstract. The spatial expansion of public electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure increasingly interacts with electricity markets in which marginal generation costs and environmental damages vary sharply over the day. This paper shows that time-of-use (TOU) pricing can shape long-run charging station investment by interacting with predictable, exogenous local traffic patterns. When charging demand concentrates during low marginal cost hours in a particular market, firms face higher margins and a stronger incentive to enter. We exploit quasi-experimental changes in TOU rate schedules across California utilities and their interaction with exogenous, intra-day foot traffic patterns across local markets to estimate these incentives in an entry setting. Incorporating hourly marginal damages from electricity generation allows us to characterize the socially efficient spatial distribution of public charging infrastructure and to assess how closely current TOU designs align private incentives with social marginal costs.

(Dis)Investment Under Uncertainty: Evidence from McGirt v. Oklahoma

with Sarah Johnston and Dominic Parker
Draft available upon request.

Abstract. When policy shocks threaten the security of future returns, natural-resource industries are predicted to respond on two margins: accelerated extraction from assets already in place, and delayed investment in new sunk-cost commitments. We document both responses following the July 2020 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in \textit{McGirt v. Oklahoma}, which restored federally-recognized Indian Reservation status to roughly 19 million acres of eastern Oklahoma and raised the prospect of major shifts in regulatory, taxing, and judicial authority over oil and gas. Using well-level production records and lease-level data for 2016–2024, we find that production from wells drilled before the ruling rose on tribal lands relative to non-tribal lands, consistent with a race to extract rents before rules change. Net leasing on tribal lands declined sharply after the ruling and did not recover alongside non-tribal leasing during the 2021–2022 price rally. The patterns show how uncertainty can reshape extraction and investment decisions before any concrete policy change occurs.