These states have the best fast-charger network for electric cars

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These states have the best fast-charger network for electric cars

person plugging electric vehicle charger into car

Many states are adopting laws that will phase out gas vehicles in the coming years. To accommodate this, states and private companies alike are looking to refresh infrastructure to provide charging capabilities for electric vehicles. Similarly, the federal government and many states are offering tax credits for EV purchases to encourage the shift to clean transport.

To see which states are best positioned for the transition to electric vehicles, SmartAsset ranked states by the amount of DC fast chargers – which provide the closest equivalent to a trip to the gas station, in terms of “refueling” – per capita.

Key findings

• California has roughly five times the number of EV charging stations as New York, Florida and Texas. With over 14,500 charging stations, California far outpaces New York (3,327), Florida (2,913) and Texas (2,472). While California ranked first for most fast chargers per capita, Florida placed 25th, New York placed 29th and Texas 41st.
• Oklahoma and South Dakota have the most fast chargers per station. Oklahoma has 1.85 DC chargers per station, compared with South Dakota’s 1.13. On average, each state has 0.59 fast chargers per EV charging station.
• Arkansas increased the number of its EV stations almost 40% year over year. Still, Arkansas has a long way to go in terms of a total EV transition. Ranking 49th for the number of DC fast chargers, Arkansas added 62 charging stations between 2021 and 2022, and 13 fast chargers.
• Alabama doubled its DC fast chargers in one year. The state now has 239 fast chargers, compared with 118 just a year before. Alaska and Rhode Island had the second- and third-highest rates of adding DC chargers, with respective 94% and 81% growth in their counts between 2021 and 2022. The average increase in these chargers statewide was 30%.
• Michigan is most bullish on Level 2 chargers. Level 2 chargers take several hours to charge an EV to about 80%, so they may be more ideal for apartment buildings, offices or other spaces. Michigan saw a 54% growth in the number of public Level 2 chargers between 2021 and 2022. On average, states increased the number of level two chargers by 15% that year.

Smartasset

Top 10 states with the most DC fast chargers per capita

table showing top 10 states with the most DC fast chargers per capita

1. California 
   In 2022, California led the ranks with the most DC fast chargers per person. In total, the state had 14,616 EV charging stations and 8,465 DC fast chargers, marking a 24.2% growth in DC fast chargers from the previous year.
2. Wyoming
   Wyoming had the second-highest rate of DC chargers per capita. With 85 EV charging stations, the state had a 22.1% increase in DC fast chargers over one year. As of 2022, the state had 94 fast chargers.
3. Vermont
   Vermont expanded its infrastructure by increasing its DC fast chargers to 103, up from the previous year by 37.33%. There were a total of 349 EV charging stations in 2022.
4. Oklahoma
   Despite an atypical 5.1% decline in the number of fast chargers, Oklahoma still had the fourth-highest rate of DC chargers per capita. There were 630 fast chargers among 341 EV charging stations in 2022. The number of stations increased by roughly 9.0% since 2021.
5. Nevada
   Nevada cracked the top 10 highest rates of DC chargers per capita in part thanks to its 23.8% growth in their numbers. These 426 total fast chargers were spread among 478 EV charging stations in 2022.
6. Maine
   Maine saw large growth in the number of DC chargers – rising 31.1% from 2021 to 2022. The most recent fast charger count was 177, compared with 408 charging stations. 
7. Colorado
   Colorado’s commitment to EV adoption was evident with 733 DC fast chargers recorded in 2022, a 25.9% increase from the year before, alongside a count of 1,788 EV charging stations.
8. Oregon
   In 2022, Oregon had 480 DC fast chargers available, after a one-year growth of 10.6%. These chargers could be found across 1,007 charging stations.
9. Maryland
   With the ninth-highest rate of DC chargers per capita, Maryland saw the number of DC fast chargers growing to 681, a 16.61% increase. This was amidst a total of 1,373 charging stations.
10. Washington
    Washington experienced 13.3% growth in fast chargers over one year, for a total of 811 in 2022 – compared with 1,777 charging stations.

Data and methodology 

EV charger and station data for each state comes from the U.S. Department of Energy for 2022 and 2021. Population data is for 2022 and comes from the U.S. Census Bureau 1-Year American Community Survey. Cities are ranked by the number of DC fast chargers per capita.

This story was produced by SmartAsset and reviewed and distributed by Stacker Media.