The Best (And Worst) Cities For Owning An EV: Study

A new study ranks US cities by the most and fewest EV chargers, revealing a major gap in charging infrastructure.

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Anthony Alaniz

By: Anthony Alaniz

Oct 16, at 3:00pm ET

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With gas prices remaining high, battery-electric vehicles are one way to avoid pain at the pump. While charging infrastructure continues to improve (slowly), a vast and inconsistent patchwork of charging stations spans the country, and some cities are more accommodating than others.

According to a new iSeeCars study, the United States will have nearly 300,000 EV chargers by the end of this year, but they aren't evenly spread across the country. The study breaks down which cities are the most and least EV-friendly communities in the nation, counting the number of Level 2 and Level 3/DC public chargers.

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Hyundai Ioniq 5

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What City Is Most Friendly To EVs?

It should come as no shock that California tops the list of most EV-friendly cities. The state has four of the top 10 spots, but it is far from alone. iSeeCars Executive Analyst Karl Brauer said:

‘California’s EV-friendly weather and tech-oriented communities clearly contribute to the state’s EV demand and aggressive charging infrastructure buildout, but high-ranking New York, Boston, and Denver reflect strong EV charging support outside the Golden State.’

Los Angeles has the most chargers overall, 36,318, but that tells only part of the story. San Francisco, along with surrounding Oakland and San Jose, ranks first, with 334 residents per charger and 22,430 chargers available.

San Diego has 7,582 chargers, with 432 residents per charger. Los Angeles is third at 500 residents per charger. Nationally, the average is expected to be 1,143 residents per charger by the end of the year, a 13.2 percent improvement.

Most Chargers

Los Angeles, CA – 36,318 Chargers
San Francisco, CA – 22,430 Chargers
New York, CA – 19,036 Chargers
Boston, MA – 12,017 Chargers
Denver, CO – 8,300 Chargers
Seattle, WA – 7,820 Chargers
Washington, DC – 7,667
San Diego, CA – 7,582
Sacramento, CA – 6,838
Atlanta, GA – 6,794

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Tesla Model Y L

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Least-Friendly Cities For EVs

Despite improvements, many major American cities fail to offer many charging locations. Louisville, Kentucky, has only 621, resulting in 2,904 residents per charger.

Milwaukee has just 852 chargers, with 2,716 residents per station. San Antonio (2,666) and Houston (2,453) are also on the list, but Texas doesn't even make the top 10 states with the fewest chargers—that's Alaska.

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Other states with very few chargers include the Dakotas, Wyoming, and Montana. These are big states that experience harsh winters, which aren’t friendly to battery-electric vehicles. West Virginia, Mississippi, Nebraska, Delaware, and Idaho round out the states with the fewest chargers.

Fewest Chargers