Electric Vehicle Manufacturing in Southern California: Current Developments, Future Prospects

This report is the second major study by the Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies on the prospects of establishing an electric vehicle manufacturing industry in Southern California (Working Papers 2 & 5). The report opens with a brief discussion of the role of regional industrial policy in shaping local developmental trajectories. An outline is presented of the main varieties of electric vehicle technology, operational characteristics, the various kinds of components and sub-assemblies that go into the vehicles, and the urban infrastructure requirements needed to support extensive electric vehicle usage. A short summary of electric vehicle developments around the world is appended, with particular emphasis on US, Japanese, and European efforts.