Current Status and Future for Electric Vehicle Charging Station in United States

As the market for electric vehicles continues to expand, having enough evse charging station is critical to extending driving range and shortening waiting time for charging.

The followings are the current Status and Future for Electric Vehicle Charging Station in United States

Currently, there are about 140,000 public electric vehicle chargers in the United States distributed among nearly 53,000 evse charging station, which is still far behind the number of 145,000 gas stations across the country.

1. EVSE Charging Station Locations

Most public ev charging station in the United States are located on the east and west coasts, while the Midwest is quite sparse except for Colorado. California has the most electric vehicle charging station at 15,182, accounting for an impressive 29% of all charging stations in the United States. In fact, the “Golden State” has almost twice as many ev chargers as New York (3,085), Florida (2,858), and Texas (2,419) combined.

It’s no surprise that the top 4 states by GDP have the most EV chargers. California’s lead is also no surprise, given the state’s ambition to completely phase out the sale of new gasoline cars by 2035.

2. Find free ev charging stations near me in each state

A large number of ev charging station will offer unlimited free charging, or a cap of 30 minutes to 4 hours of free charging before paying. Some EV charging station located in parking lots charge only a parking fee,no charging fee, while others may charge a flat fee per charge, charge based on kilowatt hours consumed, or charge by the hour.

While California leads other states in the number of ev charging station, it is actually second-to-last among the top 10 states in percentage of free ev chargers used, with only 11% of chargers free for 30 minutes or more. .

Meanwhile, almost 30% of charging station in Maryland offer at least 30 minutes of free charging. Massachusetts, on the other hand, is the stingiest state in the top ten, with only 6% of its charging station (150 in total) offering free charging to EV drivers.

3. The sweet spot for EV charging speeds and costs

While having multiple ev charging station in a state is important, there are two other factors that determine charging convenience: cost and availability. Most people will consider to charging stations near me and what is the cost to charge.

But the EV charging cost and availability is very different in different states based on differenet ev charger types. Level 2 ev charger and level 3 ev charger is the most common ev charger in you find in charging station. Level 2 ev charger charging cost is cheap, but you need to wait longer time. Level 3 ev charger is shorter time but cost high.

4. States with the best DC fast ev charging station

While free ev chargers are great, getting fast ev chargers is just as important, depending on how much you value your time. In the United States, most electric vehicle drivers have access to Level 2 ev charger, with more than 86% of charging stations having Level 2 ev chargers.

Although Level 2 charging (4 ~ 10 hours from empty to full charge) is faster than Level 1 charging (40 ~ 50 hours from empty to full charge), it can be used only in front of busy schedules and many charging stations. With 30 minutes free of charge and when you’re very urgent, using DC fast ev chargers near me is almost a must.

DC fast ev chargers can charge electric vehicles from empty to 80% in 20-60 minutes, but currently only 12% of US ev charging stations are available.

Maryland ranks first among the 10 states with the highest share of DC fast ev chargers, at 16%. Massachusetts is the state with the worst DC fast ev charger availability at 6%, while New York is the second worst at 8%, despite the state's overall large number of ev chargers. In the other top ten states, at least one in 10 charging stations is equipped with DC level 3 ev chargers.

5. The future of US electric vehicle charging station

Biden's goal of "zero-emission vehicles (battery electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid vehicles, fuel cell electric vehicles) accounting for half of new car sales by 2030" is being achieved, so in order to improve accessibility and convenience for drivers, charging stations across the U.S. are critical.

The Biden administration has given early approval to electric vehicle infrastructure plans in 35 states, providing them with $900 million in future funding as part of the $5 billion National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI), which will issued within five years.

Meanwhile, a $2.5 billion Discretionary Grant program aims to increase electric vehicle charging access in rural and burdened communities, while 30 years of the Inflation Reduction Act Billion dollars earmarked to support electric vehicle charging access in economically disadvantaged communities.