United States Electric Vehicle Adoption and its Contrasting Workforce Impacts

This thesis examines the impact of electric vehicle (EV) adoption on the automotive manufacturing workforces of Indiana and California, states with significant differences in both EV policy and sales. Using statistical regression techniques, it explores how EV adoption and manufacturing market variables affect employment levels. Despite some statistical limitations, the findings indicate a divergent impact: a positive relationship between national EV sales and employment in California, with its aggressive EV policies, and a negative relationship in Indiana, where traditional automotive manufacturing prevails. This highlights the complexity of labor transitions during increasing EV production and the importance of regional policies in influencing job creation or erosion. The findings can inform state EV policy, labor market research, and auto manufacturing labor union discussions when considering the diverging impacts the study outlines between EVs and labor.