Delawareans, rejoice: Your state may be small, but it beat out all 49 others (and Washington, DC) in a new ranking of EV charging infrastructure.
The latest EV index developed by location data company HERE Technologies and automotive research firm SBD Automotive is based on four metrics that define the public EV charging experience: How far a driver has to go to find a public charger; how quickly they can charge; the number of EVs on the road compared to combustion engine vehicles; and the likelihood of being able to find an unoccupied charge point.
After coming in 15th last year, Delaware soared to the top of this year’s list. Rounding out the top five were DC, Massachusetts and Nevada tied for third, and Connecticut. Minnesota, Nebraska, Idaho, Arkansas, and Alaska ranked lowest. Los Angeles scored highest of all metro areas.
One of the metrics used to assemble the index is the ratio of EVs to public chargers; researchers have deemed the optimal number to be between nine and 10 EVs per charger, though the exact number is different for each state. This year, just three states (Vermont, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island) and DC had the “ideal” ratio.
“If you have too many EVs, then you’ve got too many people trying to charge at one individual charge point,” Robert Fisher, domain principal for electrification at SBD, told Tech Brew. “If you have too many chargers, then you have the opposite problem. There’s not enough demand, and those charge point operators can’t make a profit. If they can’t make a profit, then of course the business viability decreases.”
Ronak Amin, global product marketing manager at HERE, said the report shows that “there is a lot of work to do. The ideal ratio is not quite there in every state. But there are vast changes happening in the market, with potentially the Tesla network opening up and that becoming a boon for consumers.”
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Many in the industry are optimistic that Tesla’s move to give other brands access to its industry-leading Supercharger network will improve the charging experience for drivers across the country (though that process is going slowly).
“The difficulty is access to those chargers. Right now, every other OEM other than Tesla requires an adapter unless you happen to go to one of those few that have the Magic Dock,” Fisher said.
Still, he expects it to “eventually get better. We think Tesla’s integration with the rest of the network will improve over the next few years.”
The findings come amid a tricky time in the EV transition. More federally funded chargers are coming online, but the rollout has been slow (only 69 charge points have been installed under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program, per an August update). Meanwhile, a number of automakers are retreating from electrification plans due in part to slowing demand.
There is evidence that the charging experience must improve for mainstream consumers to buy into electrification. Though the report suggests that public charging infrastructure is improving, there are still “persistent gaps.”
Fisher and Amin said that charging also needs to be more seamless, convenient, and reliable in order to win over mainstream consumers. Many drivers, the report noted, encounter “compatibility issues” when they go to plug in their vehicle. Other times, they may encounter slower-than-expected charging.
“For many operators of charging stations, proper maintenance has been challenging due to both skilled labor shortages and the costs involved during a period of scaling up operations and seeking profit,” the report stated. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law included $149 million for charging station repairs, “but the prioritization of these repairs remains a concern.”