California is the most electrified state when it comes to cars: It accounts for up to half of all U.S. electric vehicles sales. But even with Teslas, Nissan Leafs, and Chevy Bolts all over the place, it’s not always easy to find a public charging station without a line, especially when driving long distances throughout California. That doesn’t bode well for other states like Maryland, Colorado, and Oklahoma, which are all trying to encourage more EV sales.
Now that President Biden is in office, we’ll see if his plans to accelerate EV adoption mean the supporting infrastructure (like public charging stations and more fast-charging connections for 30-minute “fill-ups”) will actually come to fruition. The plan outlines 500,000 new EV plugs across the U.S by the end of this decade. But even in an EV-friendly state like California, with nearly 800,000 plug-in EVs and nearly 70,000 chargers, it remains a struggle to charge up when away from home. That means charging capability is already way behind demand. So while half a million is a reasonable goal, it still may not be enough and, to make things more complicated, it’s not just a matter of adding new plugs. Read more…
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