Comment box Scope: summary, personal reaction Tone: neutral Opinion: some Sarcasm/humor: none The US state of California now has over 150,000 installed electric vehicle (EV) chargers statewide,...
Comment box
Scope: summary, personal reaction
Tone: neutral
Opinion: some
Sarcasm/humor: none
The US state of California now has over 150,000 installed electric vehicle (EV) chargers statewide, plus about 500,000 chargers people have installed in their own homes.
24,202 those 150,000 chargers were installed in the first 6 months of 2024. This means there will reasonably be about 175,000 chargers in the state by the end of this year, up from 125,000 at the beginning of the year.
That's a 40% increase in charger availability in one year. If you held the opinion at the beginning of this year that the EV charging network "just isn't there yet," as the popular refrain goes, maybe reconsider that!
The Alternative Fuels Data Center Charging Station Location Map demonstrates how robust the network is in California and elsewhere. Even if you only consider Level 2 and DC Fast chargers, and even if you only consider NACS J3400 chargers (the North American standard) from that pool, coverage is still remarkable. Just about anywhere that the overwhelming majority of people actually live, there are chargers. And just about anywhere that the overwhelming majority of people actually go, there are chargers. Charging infrastructure is extremely robust near metropolitan areas and along interstate highways!
This tool even lets you map a route. For example, there are 152 charging stations along a potential route between San Francisco and Los Angeles. The largest gap between charging stations along that route is about 40 miles in the Central Valley. But there are many EVs on the market now with ranges of more than 250 miles, conservatively (really, the average is getting closer to 300 miles). Even at an 80% battery threshold, that's still 200 miles of range.
So if stations are gapped at <= 40 miles, and you miss a station, you will never be more than 20 miles away from some station, whether it's the one you passed or the next one. Deciding to skip a station still leaves a gap of no more than 80 miles. At 80% charge, you could miss 4 stations in a row (160 miles) and still comfortably have enough battery to realize your oopsie and make it to a station (remember, you need 20 miles in this situation, not 40).
Even off an interstate, there are charging stations. From Monterey to Merced, there are 23 stations along the route. The largest gap between chargers is, again... about 40 miles.
Of course there are parts of the state with less charging infrastructure. But so few people live in these areas, and people have such little reason to go to these places, that it's almost irrelevant when thinking about greenhouse gas emissions. Most of the blank spots on the map are places where there aren't even roads. Like, there's a gap north of Barstow... but what reason would you have to drive around in the completely empty desert there? It's so remote that there's a place on the map marked as "Mars." Want to go to Death Valley? Well, lucky for you, there is still charging infrastructure by that actual tourist location, like in nearby Bishop or Lone Pine.
California has a population of 39 million people, with over 31 million registered vehicles. Yet only 1 million of those registered vehicles are electric. We're at the point where EV infrastructure is, for all intents and purposes, as plentiful in the state as gas stations. I hope to see significantly more EV registrations in the near future.
Connectivity is plentiful in the region too. Want to go to Vegas? While we're waiting for Brightline West to finish in 2027, your route from LA is full of chargers. What about something less dense? From LA to Flagstaff AZ, the biggest gap on I-40 is about 140 miles. Sounds like a lot, but again, with a range of 250 or 300 miles the trip is still perfectly feasible (you're never more than 70 miles from a station there). Even if your 250-mile car is at 80% range, you still have 60 miles of breathing room.
Of course, there are other reasons that an EV might not be the right choice for some people. The cars are still a little expensive, and people living in condos in dense urban areas might not have home charging (yet), and there are always edge cases for people who live offroading in remote deserts or whatever. But for most people, EV charging infrastructure density really isn't a barrier anymore, and range anxiety isn't a legitimate concern. As charging stations continue to be built at a rapid pace, this will become even less of an issue.
At a pace of 50,000 charging stations per year (that's probably a conservative estimate), by the end of 2025 there will be 225,000 stations in California alone. By the end of 2026, 275,000: that's almost double today's count. If you're considering buying a new car, it would be wise to consider the charging network today and also the charging network of the near future. Most cars last a good decade. In two years the charging network can be expected to have doubled in density, so even more use-cases will be enabled.
Comment box
The US state of California now has over 150,000 installed electric vehicle (EV) chargers statewide, plus about 500,000 chargers people have installed in their own homes.
24,202 those 150,000 chargers were installed in the first 6 months of 2024. This means there will reasonably be about 175,000 chargers in the state by the end of this year, up from 125,000 at the beginning of the year.
That's a 40% increase in charger availability in one year. If you held the opinion at the beginning of this year that the EV charging network "just isn't there yet," as the popular refrain goes, maybe reconsider that!
The Alternative Fuels Data Center Charging Station Location Map demonstrates how robust the network is in California and elsewhere. Even if you only consider Level 2 and DC Fast chargers, and even if you only consider NACS J3400 chargers (the North American standard) from that pool, coverage is still remarkable. Just about anywhere that the overwhelming majority of people actually live, there are chargers. And just about anywhere that the overwhelming majority of people actually go, there are chargers. Charging infrastructure is extremely robust near metropolitan areas and along interstate highways!
This tool even lets you map a route. For example, there are 152 charging stations along a potential route between San Francisco and Los Angeles. The largest gap between charging stations along that route is about 40 miles in the Central Valley. But there are many EVs on the market now with ranges of more than 250 miles, conservatively (really, the average is getting closer to 300 miles). Even at an 80% battery threshold, that's still 200 miles of range.
So if stations are gapped at <= 40 miles, and you miss a station, you will never be more than 20 miles away from some station, whether it's the one you passed or the next one. Deciding to skip a station still leaves a gap of no more than 80 miles. At 80% charge, you could miss 4 stations in a row (160 miles) and still comfortably have enough battery to realize your oopsie and make it to a station (remember, you need 20 miles in this situation, not 40).
Even off an interstate, there are charging stations. From Monterey to Merced, there are 23 stations along the route. The largest gap between chargers is, again... about 40 miles.
Of course there are parts of the state with less charging infrastructure. But so few people live in these areas, and people have such little reason to go to these places, that it's almost irrelevant when thinking about greenhouse gas emissions. Most of the blank spots on the map are places where there aren't even roads. Like, there's a gap north of Barstow... but what reason would you have to drive around in the completely empty desert there? It's so remote that there's a place on the map marked as "Mars." Want to go to Death Valley? Well, lucky for you, there is still charging infrastructure by that actual tourist location, like in nearby Bishop or Lone Pine.
California has a population of 39 million people, with over 31 million registered vehicles. Yet only 1 million of those registered vehicles are electric. We're at the point where EV infrastructure is, for all intents and purposes, as plentiful in the state as gas stations. I hope to see significantly more EV registrations in the near future.
Connectivity is plentiful in the region too. Want to go to Vegas? While we're waiting for Brightline West to finish in 2027, your route from LA is full of chargers. What about something less dense? From LA to Flagstaff AZ, the biggest gap on I-40 is about 140 miles. Sounds like a lot, but again, with a range of 250 or 300 miles the trip is still perfectly feasible (you're never more than 70 miles from a station there). Even if your 250-mile car is at 80% range, you still have 60 miles of breathing room.
Of course, there are other reasons that an EV might not be the right choice for some people. The cars are still a little expensive, and people living in condos in dense urban areas might not have home charging (yet), and there are always edge cases for people who live offroading in remote deserts or whatever. But for most people, EV charging infrastructure density really isn't a barrier anymore, and range anxiety isn't a legitimate concern. As charging stations continue to be built at a rapid pace, this will become even less of an issue.
At a pace of 50,000 charging stations per year (that's probably a conservative estimate), by the end of 2025 there will be 225,000 stations in California alone. By the end of 2026, 275,000: that's almost double today's count. If you're considering buying a new car, it would be wise to consider the charging network today and also the charging network of the near future. Most cars last a good decade. In two years the charging network can be expected to have doubled in density, so even more use-cases will be enabled.