Summary
– EV adoption in the US is increasing due to factors like climate change, convenience, and tax incentives
– The public charging network has more than doubled since 2020, but growth in EV sales may outpace progress
– States like California, Florida, and Texas have high overall EV presence but low availability of charging stations per registered EV
– States like North Dakota and Wyoming have the infrastructure to support the growth in EV demand
– Federal funding from the 2021 infrastructure law will be essential in supporting EV development nationwide.
Article
Americans are increasingly turning to electric vehicles (EVs) due to factors such as climate change, convenience, and tax incentives, leading to a significant growth in EV sales over the past five years. As a result, the nation’s public charging network has more than doubled since 2020. However, this growth in EV sales may be outpacing the progress of charging infrastructure. To assess the accessibility of charging infrastructure, ConsumerAffairs analyzed historical data of EV registration and charging stations to rank states based on their infrastructure support for EVs.
States like California, Florida, and Texas are considered top places for owning an EV due to their overall presence in the EV market. However, when analyzing the availability of charging stations per 1,000 registered EVs, these states ranked in the bottom 10 nationally. On the other hand, states like North Dakota and Wyoming have the infrastructure to support the growing demand for EVs despite having smaller portions of the national EV market. Charging stations tend to be installed before EV adoption in a region, and the dynamics of station deployment change as markets mature based on demand.
While the pace of current deployment may be enough to support today’s EV drivers, challenges remain in ensuring infrastructure readiness for future demand. Early adopters of EVs often have access to home charging, and states with high cross-regional traffic face increased demand for charging stations. To support the transition to EV driving projected over the next five to 10 years, federal funding provided by the infrastructure law passed in 2021 plays a crucial role. The bill allocates $7.5 billion for developing EV charging stations, with a focus on creating a coast-to-coast network on major federal interstate routes.
ConsumerAffairs ranked states based on the number of charging stations available per 1,000 registered EVs. States like North Dakota, Wyoming, Maine, West Virginia, South Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, Kansas, Missouri, and Mississippi were among the top 10 states for charging EVs, showcasing strong infrastructure support relative to their EV registrations. In contrast, states like New Jersey, Nevada, California, Arkansas, Hawaii, Illinois, Florida, Washington, Texas, and Oklahoma were among the bottom 10 states, facing challenges in charging infrastructure readiness compared to their EV populations.
The analysis revealed that while both EVs and charging stations have seen exponential growth over the past five years, the proportion of charging stations per 1,000 registered EVs has decreased by 21%. This indicates that charging infrastructure may be lagging behind demand, although the relationship between EVs and charging infrastructure is interdependent. Future projections suggest a demand for 1.2 million public charging ports by 2030, highlighting the need for continued investment in EV charging infrastructure to support the growth of EV adoption.
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