Life cycle costing and social impact assessment of electric vehicle use: the case of Washington, DC

Introduction Battery-Electric Vehicles (BEVs) are considered important in advancing urban decarbonization efforts, but their operating costs vary substantially depending on factors such as charging infrastructure, building density, traffic patterns, and electricity prices. This creates unequal burdens for households with different socio-economic characteristics. This article combines a tariff-adjusted life-cycle costing approach with a social life-cycle approach to evaluate the performance of light-duty BEVs in Washington, DC, on a per-vehicle mile basis. The analysis uses disaggregated data for the eight Wards of Washington, DC, to characterize the range of social impacts associated with the city's marked disparities. Methods According to registration data from December 2025, 68 percent of the city's 11,727 BEVs are concentrated in higher-income Wards with a higher concentration of single-family homes. These Wards (Wards 3 through 6) comprise roughly 50 percent of the city's population. By comparison, the city's lower-income Wards with a higher concentration of multi-family renter-dominated properties (Wards 7 and 8) comprise approximately 25 percent of the city's population but account for only 12 percent of its BEVs. The city's charging infrastructure includes 1,062 Level 2 ports across 310 sites, but only 58 fast charging ports at 10 locations. Concerns about affordability, charging duration, and access intensify the disparities in access to BEV infrastructure across the city's eight Wards. We model several scenarios by Ward to assess the disparities in access. Results Private Level 2 charging costs 0.145−0.147 per mile compared to 0.252 for public DC fast charging in our low mileage scenario. These disparities persist for our higher-mileage scenarios. Discussion Strategies to alleviate these disparities in charging costs include changes in rate structures, submetering provisions, and make-ready requirements. These strategies would obligate utilities or developers to install the appropriate electrical panels, conduits, and wiring needed so that BEV chargers can be added at lower cost especially in neighborhoods that depend more on public charging options.