A new study, the HERE-SBD EV Index, reveals that the electric vehicle “landscape” is improving, but there are certain states and regions are lagging due to infrastructure issues.
Private companies are building EV charging stations as quickly as they can, but it’s not an inexpensive proposition.
The two organizations put together an annual EV Index to provide insight into the current state of all of the factors impacting EV ownership, such as available charging stations, types of chargers available, location and functionality of EV chargers and more.
All the states earn a ranking and the top state for 2024 is Delaware, which jumped from 15th last year, according to the index. Its index score was 79.4, a jump of 23.4 points from last year. Tennessee, Louisiana, Texas and Indiana rounded out the top five, but all were well behind Delaware’s leap.
“It’s really amazing. Most of the time we see states moving a couple of positions here or there,” said Fisher. “But essentially, there are four states in New England that are focused on electrifying a corridor that will allow you to travel between New York City and Washington, DC — without having trouble charging your EV and Wilmington, Delaware is sitting right in the middle.”
The leaders on last year’s index were Washington, D.C. (72.06), Connecticut (66.18), Vermont (65.2), Massachusetts (64.71) and Maryland (63.73).
Why the jump?
While demand for EVs continues to increase, the pace of that growth has slowed since early 2023.
Delaware’s location, jammed between New York and Washington, D.C., made it a focal point. The state secured several National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) grants for high-power DC (direct current) chargers.
Delaware also has an enticing rebate program, offering up to $10,000 in combined state and federal incentives for electric vehicle purchases.
“Delaware has made a concerted effort to convince consumers to adopt EVs,” said Fisher.
The big fall
The state that suffered the biggest year-over-year decline is also the one designing a great number of the electric vehicle currently on U.S. roads: Michigan. The Wolverine State is also the slow charging state.
Michigan fell nearly nine points — to 40th overall — from last year’s score of 50.98. More EVs are on Michigan roads than ever, but there are fewer places to plug in, and those that are available are typically not DC fast chargers. Even worse, if you can find outside of Southeastern Michigan, they may or may not work.
ChargePoint’s new Omni Port will begin showing up on new chargers later this year as well as being retrofitted to existing units.
“Michigan is much more rural than New England or most of California,” said Fisher.
“Our U.S. office is located in Ann Arbor, near Detroit. When my colleagues who own EVs attempt to drive northward on vacation, they’ve told me that they have trouble finding chargers that are working, and if they are operational, there are long wait times.
Charger scarcity
Michigan’s not alone in not being able charge all of its EVs on the roads quickly. Even though there has been a 32% increase in charge points year-over-year, according to the study, some states still lag while others don’t have working units.
As the HERE-SBD EV Index was being prepared, as many as 20% of chargers in states like Alaska, West Virginia and Hawaii were out of order.
“If one in five times that you stop at a charger, and there’s no way to charge, that could be quite frustrating,” said Fisher.
“There’s a lot of government money that’s being invested into repairing those chargers, but it’s going to take another two to three years before we get the service level back to where it needs to be, a minimum of 97%.”
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NEVI now
The NEVI program has $5 billion at the ready to help with the development of the country’s EV charging network. However, despite being passed in 2023, just 33 chargers have been installed.
“Overall, a lot of the charge points that would have naturally built up over time have been delayed while they wait for the NEVI funding to come through. It is a really good idea, but it has slowed things down for the time being.”
Some areas are enjoying more success than others.
“California benefited the most, from a pure dollar perspective,” said Fisher. “But did they need it? It was a natural market anyway.
“One of the states most disadvantaged when it comes to charging infrastructure is Mississippi. They have a very immature network – it’s difficult for people to drive across the state, even if you’re just passing through. They have received a decent amount of NEVI funding and I think that will improve things dramatically. But then again, we are two years into the NEVI program and there have only been 15 charging stations built across the country.
What’s next?
Officials noted that progress is being made, but not quickly enough to eradicate concerns about range anxiety and charger anxiety from potential buyers.
“Rumor-wise, I think it’s only gotten worse,” said Fisher. “It’s kind of like Whack-A-Mole — as soon as you start to see one of the myths die down in the media, another one surfaces. Just yesterday, there was an op-ed talking about government heads needing to roll because the EV transition was a complete failure — and it isn’t true.
“According to some of our most recent surveys, most EV drivers are fairly happy and confident with the charging networks they have. What that demonstrates is that an EV driver begins to understand where they can charge reliably and quickly, and what times of day are best.
“It’s the people who don’t drive EVs who aren’t comfortable with it. They only see the negative news about charging and assume that it’s difficult, but in most cases, it isn’t that bad.”
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