The most electric vehicle-friendly states in 2022

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The popularity of electric cars is on the rise - and there are almost 1.5 million electric vehicles on the road in the United States right now. That number is only expected to climb in coming years, with new options for buyers being released from many major car manufacturers and gas prices trending higher this summer.

While the demand for electric vehicles climbs, some states do not yet have the appropriate infrastructure to make owning an electric vehicle viable. At The FABRICATOR, we wanted to find out which states are the best places to drive electric vehicles in 2022.

We looked at the number of registered electric cars per capita, the availability of public chargers, state tax incentives for personal electric vehicle owners, gas prices, and electricity prices to determine which states are the best (and worst) to own an electric vehicle.

Most & Least Electric Vehicle-Friendly States in 2022

The number one most electric vehicle-friendly state in 2022 is… Washington! The Evergreen State scored highly across all categories that were analyzed. Washington has over 8,000 public chargers throughout the state, and a ratio of 8 public chargers to every registered electric car. There are eight different tax incentives for personal electric vehicle owners, and the state has some of the cheapest electricity in the country, at 8.33 cents per kilowatt-hour.

The next best place to have an electric vehicle is (nearby) Oregon. With just over 4,000 public chargers, about 30,000 registered electric cars, and cheap electricity at 8.82 cents per kilowatt-hour, it’s a great place to own an electric vehicle.

The West coast and Northeast regions of the U.S. dominated when it comes to electric-vehicle friendliness. California (3rd), Arizona (4th), and Nevada (5th) all ranked highly, as well as Utah (6th), Colorado (7th), New Jersey (8th), Hawaii (9th), and Idaho (10th.)

The worst states for electric vehicles are Rhode Island (1st), Kansas (2nd), Mississippi (3rd), Arkansas (4th), and South Dakota (5th). Rhode Island only has 2 public chargers for every registered electric vehicle, and electricity is expensive at 18.54 cents per kilowatt-hour (that’s about 122% more expensive than in Washington.)

North Dakota (6th) and South Dakota (5th) each have some of the lowest counts of public chargers in the U.S., with 322 and 326 respectively. North Dakota also has the lowest number of registered electric vehicles in the U.S., with only 380.

If you live in Arkansas, it may be better to stick to a gas-powered vehicle for now, with gas prices being the second-cheapest in the country at $3.53 per gallon. You also may have trouble if you’re running low on electricity, as there’s only 2 public chargers available per registered vehicle.

How Electric Vehicle-Friendly is Each State?

California leads the way in the number of electric vehicles per state, with 563,070 registered electric cars. Even when standardized by state population, California ranks number one. Despite having the highest number of state tax incentives for residents (45), California lost points in our ranking due to expensive electricity, costing 18 cents per kilowatt-hour, and expensive gas prices.

Arizona and Nevada both received the same score in electric vehicle-friendliness. Both states have a similar percentage of state population who own an electric car, but varied drastically when it came to the number of available public chargers. Arizona has 9 publicly available chargers for every registered vehicle, versus Nevada which has only 6. The biggest difference comes down to cost - Nevada’s gas is more expensive per gallon, but Arizona’s electricity is more expensive per kilowatt-hour.

Electric Vehicles in the U.S.

By this point, you may be wondering if it’s time for you to buy an electric vehicle or not. It’s important to consider where you currently live (or plan to in the future) and the infrastructure that’s available.

Installing a charger at home can be a big upfront cost, and you may have to rely on public charging stations. California has the highest number of public charging stations, with 14,487, compared to Alaska which only has 53.

It’s no secret that rising gas prices have impacted Americans across the entire country. The states with the most expensive average gas prices in August were Hawaii and California, averaging about $5.39 per gallon. The state with the cheapest gas in August was Texas, at $3.49 per gallon.

Hawaii has the most expensive electricity in the country, paying 27.55 cents per kilowatt-hour. Louisiana has the cheapest, at 7.51 cents per kilowatt-hour.

Whether or not you take the plunge now or later, electric vehicles are the future of the automotive industry. Right now, where you live and the availability of vehicles and chargers can drastically impact your decision to purchase an electric vehicle. Be sure to crunch the numbers and do your research before taking the plunge.

Methodology: To determine our ranking, we compared all 50 U.S. states across five key metrics: the number of registered electric vehicles per 100,000 people, the ratio of public electric vehicle chargers to registered electric vehicles, the number of state tax incentives for electric vehicle owners, average gas prices in August 2022, and average electricity prices from 2020 (most recent at the time of publication). To determine an overall score, we graded each metric on a 20-point scale, then combined the scores to find a total out of 100.

Fair Use: For media inquiries, please contact media@digitalthirdcoast.net. When using this data and research, please attribute by linking to this study and citing https://www.thefabricator.com/

Sources:

• Alternative Fuels Data Center: https://afdc.energy.gov/
• U.S. Energy Information Administration: https://www.eia.gov/electricity/state/
• AAA Gas Prices: https://gasprices.aaa.com/state-gas-price-averages/ (August 2022)
• U.S. Census Data: https://www.census.gov/data.html