Charging stations not keeping up with electric car demand
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(NewsNation) — Electric cars are moving full steam ahead, but the number of charging stations in the United States may not be keeping up with demand.
The U.S. has about 47,000 charging stations, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. That may seem like a lot, but there are some gaps compared to the 145,000 gas stations around the country.
This becomes a major issue in places with so-called “dead zones.” Wyoming has only 58 charging stations and Montana has 80. Meanwhile, California has about 13,000 and New York has 2,600. This can put restrictions on drivers. If you want to take your electric car on a cross-country road trip, you could run into major issues charging your ride in the Plains areas, potentially leaving you stranded.
If you do find a charging station, not all of them are “fast charge,” so it can take up to five hours to fully charge a vehicle in some case, leaving you stuck at the charging station for hours on end.
However, electric vehicles are not subject to the same price fluctuations that the global oil market can be, making the cost to fuel your ride cheaper.
This comes as California wants electric vehicle sales to triple in the next four years to 35% of all new car purchases, an aggressive target set as part of the goal to phase out the sale of gas-powered cars by the middle of next decade.
The hoped-for boost in electric vehicle sales will also require a major increase in charging stations. California has set a goal of 250,000 charging stations by 2025, and right now there are fewer than 80,000 stations in public spaces or in parking lots at office buildings, apartment buildings and other shared spaces. The California Energy Commission last year approved spending $314 million over three years for passenger car charging stations and California Gov. Gavin Newsom added more in his proposed state budget.
A group representing the auto industry said meeting the requirements will be “extremely challenging.”
NewsNation was live for the launch of Ford’s all-electric truck, F-150® Lightning. Watch coverage here.
