Go or no go: How truly EV ready is the metropolitan U.S.?

By Dr. Tim Sandle
October 19, 2023

The industry-wide shift towards electric vehicles was the front and centre at the auto show in Munich — © GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File Ethan Miller

With new electric vehicles entering the market at a faster rate, questions about mass adoption preparedness are ongoing within the U.S.. This leads to the question, of concern to consumers and to businesses, as to which cities are boosting electric transportation uptake, and which lag behind?

An examination of over 100 of the largest metropolitan areas in the U.S. has ranked each for electric-vehicle friendliness, using criteria like number of EVs, public chargers, electricity cost (expressed as an eGallon), infrastructure challenges, clean energy, EV insurance costs, local incentives and more.

The analysis shows that most cities that provide optimal conditions for EV uptake are located on the West Coast. Western hubs have most amplified efforts toward expanding and improving the infrastructure and market conditions so as to support EV uptake on a larger scale. In fact, California claims almost half of the spots in the top 20. Miami, FL, is the only southern metro area to reach the top 10. This is a sign of a divided nation; one where challenges are unevenly distributed.

Most and least EVs on the roads

The locale with the most EVs on its roads was found to be Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA, with 290,000 registered cars. In contrast, the metro area with the lowest car number is Jackson, MS, with only 480 EVs. The biggest increase in buying EVs (almost 3 times more in 2021 than 2020) was registered in two Oklahoma metros: Tulsa and Oklahoma City.

Charging stations

The number of EVs on the road does not necessarily equate with accessibility to charging stations. In terms of the most EV public charging stations San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA, has the most EV public charging station reported per 1,000 people (2.2). The fewest charging stations among the metros analysed are in McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX (0.04/1,000 people).

Accessibility

Depending on where people live, even a high number of charging stations does not necessarily indicate these are accessible to all citizens. The highest number of multifamily buildings upgraded with EV infrastructure are found in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA, (10.3 percent of the total number of rentals have this type of amenity). New Haven-Milford, CT, has seen the biggest increase in installing EV chargers for multifamily buildings (160.6 percent), but still only 2.3 percent of multifamily buildings provide this type of amenity here. This shows wide variances in terms of distribution.

Incentivisation

The state providing the most incentive and help in terms of EV adoption is California, more than double the initiatives publicized in the runner-up states, New York and Colorado. At the other end of the spectrum, Arkansas and West Virginia are lagging in the incentives department.

Insurance

The final measure of interest is motor vehicle insurance. The cheapest monthly payment for EV insurance is in North Carolina ($105/month), meanwhile the most expensive premium is paid in Florida ($313/month).

These types of data patterns are helpful for going beyond the headline figures for there are different measures of EV access distribution that need to be considered.