As EV Sales Grow, These States Are Way Behind in EV Infrastructure

Green electric vehicle parking with charging station in urban environment.

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Americans bought over 1 million fully electric vehicles in 2023, more than in any other previous year – and early signs indicate that 2024 will emerge as another record year for EV sales in the United States. Notably, however, rates of EV adoption in the U.S. are not uniform and appear to be highly regional.

In major cities along the West Coast, including much of Southern California, the San Francisco Bay area, and further north into Washington state, EVs account for over 20% of new vehicle registrations, and in some cases, nearly 40%. Meanwhile, in many parts of the South and the Midwest, fewer than 5% of newly registered vehicles are fully electric.

For many Americas, hesitancy to make the transition to EVs appears to be driven in large part by widespread perceptions of inadequate charging infrastructure. According to a 2024 survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, only 13% of adults in the U.S. have a high degree of confidence that the country will build enough charging stations to support a large number of EVs.

Contrary to this widely held belief, government data shows that the number of EV stations has more than doubled since 2020, and that an estimated 60% of Americans now live within 2 miles of a public charger.

Still, just as there is considerable regional variation in EV sales, certain parts of the country are far better equipped to accommodate EV owners than others.

Using data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Climate Crisis 247 identified the states with the worst EV infrastructure. We ranked all 50 states on an equally weighted index of three measures: the population adjusted number of EV charging stations with public use charging ports, the population adjusted number EV charging ports, and the average number of fast-charging ports per charging location. Population estimates used in these calculations are from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2023 American Community Survey. Only the 25 lowest ranking states, as determined by these metrics, appear on this list.

Nationwide, there are about 19 locations with public-use charging ports for every 100,000 people, and about 59 individual charging ports per 100,000 people. Of the 25 states on this list, all but one have a below average concentration of both charging locations and individual charging ports.

While having a place to recharge is critical for EV owners, exactly what type of chargers are available is also important. DC fast chargers, for example, are capable of charging 80% of an EV’s battery in under 20 minutes – while slower, Level 1 and Level 2 chargers can take hours, if not days, to power an EV battery to a similar level. As a result, the states on this list often have fewer DC fast-charge ports per charging location than is typical nationwide.

25. Montana

EV charging locations with public-use ports: 11.2 per 100,000 people – 16th fewest of 50 states (127 total)
EV charging ports in state: 34.0 per 100,000 people – 21st fewest of 50 states (385 total)
Avg. number of fast-charge ports per charging location: 4.5 – 10th most of 50 states
Total fast-charging ports in state: 184 (47.8%of all charging ports)

24. Pennsylvania

EV charging locations with public-use ports: 13.2 per 100,000 people – 21st fewest of 50 states (1,715 total)
EV charging ports in state: 37.0 per 100,000 people – 25th fewest of 50 states (4,793 total)
Avg. number of fast-charge ports per charging location: 4.1 – 16th most of 50 states
Total fast-charging ports in state: 1,028 (21.4%of all charging ports)

23. Illinois

EV charging locations with public-use ports: 10.2 per 100,000 people – 12th fewest of 50 states (1,283 total)
EV charging ports in state: 32.0 per 100,000 people – 16th fewest of 50 states (4,015 total)
Avg. number of fast-charge ports per charging location: 4.5 – 11th most of 50 states
Total fast-charging ports in state: 1,002 (25.0%of all charging ports)

22. Georgia

EV charging locations with public-use ports: 17.0 per 100,000 people – 17th most of 50 states (1,876 total)
EV charging ports in state: 51.2 per 100,000 people – 18th most of 50 states (5,646 total)
Avg. number of fast-charge ports per charging location: 3.3 – 18th fewest of 50 states
Total fast-charging ports in state: 1,139 (20.2%of all charging ports)

21. Indiana

EV charging locations with public-use ports: 7.7 per 100,000 people – 5th fewest of 50 states (530 total)
EV charging ports in state: 24.5 per 100,000 people – 6th fewest of 50 states (1,682 total)
Avg. number of fast-charge ports per charging location: 4.8 – 8th most of 50 states
Total fast-charging ports in state: 539 (32.0%of all charging ports)

20. Hawaii

EV charging locations with public-use ports: 25.9 per 100,000 people – 12th most of 50 states (372 total)
EV charging ports in state: 69.7 per 100,000 people – 14th most of 50 states (1,000 total)
Avg. number of fast-charge ports per charging location: 1.8 – the fewest of 50 states
Total fast-charging ports in state: 92 (9.2%of all charging ports)

19. West Virginia

EV charging locations with public-use ports: 8.0 per 100,000 people – 6th fewest of 50 states (141 total)
EV charging ports in state: 26.5 per 100,000 people – 8th fewest of 50 states (469 total)
Avg. number of fast-charge ports per charging location: 4.4 – 12th most of 50 states
Total fast-charging ports in state: 144 (30.7%of all charging ports)

18. Missouri

EV charging locations with public-use ports: 16.8 per 100,000 people – 18th most of 50 states (1,041 total)
EV charging ports in state: 46.7 per 100,000 people – 20th most of 50 states (2,892 total)
Avg. number of fast-charge ports per charging location: 3.0 – 11th fewest of 50 states
Total fast-charging ports in state: 453 (15.7%of all charging ports)

17. Tennessee

EV charging locations with public-use ports: 11.8 per 100,000 people – 18th fewest of 50 states (842 total)
EV charging ports in state: 32.6 per 100,000 people – 17th fewest of 50 states (2,325 total)
Avg. number of fast-charge ports per charging location: 3.8 – 25th most of 50 states
Total fast-charging ports in state: 493 (21.2%of all charging ports)

16. Wisconsin

EV charging locations with public-use ports: 9.8 per 100,000 people – 11th fewest of 50 states (580 total)
EV charging ports in state: 25.8 per 100,000 people – 7th fewest of 50 states (1,524 total)
Avg. number of fast-charge ports per charging location: 4.1 – 15th most of 50 states
Total fast-charging ports in state: 441 (28.9%of all charging ports)

15. New Mexico

*Photo by OliverD. & Marlene Olona on Pexels*

EV charging locations with public-use ports: 12.9 per 100,000 people – 20th fewest of 50 states (273 total)
EV charging ports in state: 33.9 per 100,000 people – 20th fewest of 50 states (717 total)
Avg. number of fast-charge ports per charging location: 3.5 – 23rd fewest of 50 states
Total fast-charging ports in state: 249 (34.7%of all charging ports)

14. Louisiana

EV charging locations with public-use ports: 5.2 per 100,000 people – 2nd fewest of 50 states (239 total)
EV charging ports in state: 16.1 per 100,000 people – the fewest of 50 states (735 total)
Avg. number of fast-charge ports per charging location: 4.7 – 9th most of 50 states
Total fast-charging ports in state: 224 (30.5%of all charging ports)

13. Minnesota

EV charging locations with public-use ports: 13.3 per 100,000 people – 24th fewest of 50 states (761 total)
EV charging ports in state: 36.9 per 100,000 people – 24th fewest of 50 states (2,117 total)
Avg. number of fast-charge ports per charging location: 3.2 – 16th fewest of 50 states
Total fast-charging ports in state: 490 (23.1%of all charging ports)

12. Arkansas

EV charging locations with public-use ports: 11.1 per 100,000 people – 15th fewest of 50 states (340 total)
EV charging ports in state: 29.2 per 100,000 people – 14th fewest of 50 states (897 total)
Avg. number of fast-charge ports per charging location: 3.4 – 21st fewest of 50 states
Total fast-charging ports in state: 123 (13.7%of all charging ports)

11. Kentucky

EV charging locations with public-use ports: 7.1 per 100,000 people – 3rd fewest of 50 states (321 total)
EV charging ports in state: 19.5 per 100,000 people – 3rd fewest of 50 states (884 total)
Avg. number of fast-charge ports per charging location: 3.9 – 23rd most of 50 states
Total fast-charging ports in state: 217 (24.5%of all charging ports)

10. Ohio

EV charging locations with public-use ports: 13.3 per 100,000 people – 23rd fewest of 50 states (1,563 total)
EV charging ports in state: 33.4 per 100,000 people – 19th fewest of 50 states (3,937 total)
Avg. number of fast-charge ports per charging location: 2.9 – 10th fewest of 50 states
Total fast-charging ports in state: 806 (20.5%of all charging ports)

9. Idaho

EV charging locations with public-use ports: 8.7 per 100,000 people – 8th fewest of 50 states (170 total)
EV charging ports in state: 28.0 per 100,000 people – 11th fewest of 50 states (550 total)
Avg. number of fast-charge ports per charging location: 3.4 – 20th fewest of 50 states
Total fast-charging ports in state: 151 (27.5%of all charging ports)

8. Iowa

EV charging locations with public-use ports: 11.5 per 100,000 people – 17th fewest of 50 states (368 total)
EV charging ports in state: 28.2 per 100,000 people – 13th fewest of 50 states (904 total)
Avg. number of fast-charge ports per charging location: 3.1 – 12th fewest of 50 states
Total fast-charging ports in state: 318 (35.2%of all charging ports)

7. South Dakota

EV charging locations with public-use ports: 10.2 per 100,000 people – 13th fewest of 50 states (94 total)
EV charging ports in state: 27.1 per 100,000 people – 10th fewest of 50 states (249 total)
Avg. number of fast-charge ports per charging location: 3.2 – 15th fewest of 50 states
Total fast-charging ports in state: 111 (44.6%of all charging ports)

6. Michigan

EV charging locations with public-use ports: 14.1 per 100,000 people – 25th most of 50 states (1,413 total)
EV charging ports in state: 35.6 per 100,000 people – 23rd fewest of 50 states (3,572 total)
Avg. number of fast-charge ports per charging location: 2.5 – 5th fewest of 50 states
Total fast-charging ports in state: 769 (21.5%of all charging ports)

5. Alabama

EV charging locations with public-use ports: 7.3 per 100,000 people – 4th fewest of 50 states (373 total)
EV charging ports in state: 23.5 per 100,000 people – 5th fewest of 50 states (1,203 total)
Avg. number of fast-charge ports per charging location: 3.4 – 19th fewest of 50 states
Total fast-charging ports in state: 378 (31.4%of all charging ports)

4. Nebraska

EV charging locations with public-use ports: 13.2 per 100,000 people – 22nd fewest of 50 states (262 total)
EV charging ports in state: 29.4 per 100,000 people – 15th fewest of 50 states (582 total)
Avg. number of fast-charge ports per charging location: 2.5 – 6th fewest of 50 states
Total fast-charging ports in state: 155 (26.6%of all charging ports)

3. Mississippi

EV charging locations with public-use ports: 4.8 per 100,000 people – the fewest of 50 states (142 total)
EV charging ports in state: 19.0 per 100,000 people – 2nd fewest of 50 states (558 total)
Avg. number of fast-charge ports per charging location: 3.5 – 22nd fewest of 50 states
Total fast-charging ports in state: 122 (21.9%of all charging ports)

2. North Dakota

EV charging locations with public-use ports: 12.2 per 100,000 people – 19th fewest of 50 states (96 total)
EV charging ports in state: 26.8 per 100,000 people – 9th fewest of 50 states (210 total)
Avg. number of fast-charge ports per charging location: 2.6 – 7th fewest of 50 states
Total fast-charging ports in state: 88 (41.9%of all charging ports)

1. Alaska

EV charging locations with public-use ports: 8.7 per 100,000 people – 9th fewest of 50 states (64 total)
EV charging ports in state: 20.9 per 100,000 people – 4th fewest of 50 states (153 total)
Avg. number of fast-charge ports per charging location: 2.1 – 2nd fewest of 50 states
Total fast-charging ports in state: 39 (25.5%of all charging ports)

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