Pew Research Finds 64% of Americans Live Within Two Miles of a Public EV Charger

"64% of Americans live within 2 miles of a public charging station," Pew Research reported this week, citing a survey paired with an analysis of U.S. Energy Department data that found over 61,000 publicly accessible charging stations. And those who live closest to public chargers "view EVs more positively."The vast majority of EV charging occurs at home, but access to public infrastructure is tightly linked with Americans' opinions of electric vehicles themselves. Our analysis finds that Americans who live close to public chargers view EVs more positively than those who are farther away. Even when accounting for factors like partisan identification and community type, Americans who live close to EV chargers are more likely to say they: - Already own an electric or hybrid vehicle- Would consider buying an EV for their next vehicle- Favor phasing out production of new gasoline cars and trucks by 2035- Are confident that the U.S. will build the necessary infrastructure to support large numbers of EVs on the roads The number of EV charging stations has more than doubled since 2020. In December 2020, the Department of Energy reported that there were nearly 29,000 public charging stations nationwide. By February 2024, that number had increased to more than 61,000 stations. Over 95% of the American public now lives in a county that has at least one public EV charging station. EV charging stations are most accessible to residents of urban areas: 60% of urban residents live less than a mile from the nearest public EV charger, compared with 41% of those in the suburbs and just 17% of rural Americans. California is home to about 25% of all of America's charging stations, according to the report. But this means EV-owning Californians "might also have a harder time than residents of many states when it comes to the actual experience of finding and using a charger."Despite having the most charging stations of any state, California's 43,780 individual public charging ports must provide service for the more than 1.2 million electric vehicles registered to its residents. That works out to one public port for every 29 EVs, a ratio that ranks California 49th across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. At the other end of the spectrum, Wyoming (one-to-six), North Dakota (one-to-six) and West Virginia (one-to-eight) have the most ports relative to the much smaller number of EVs registered in their respective states. Another interesting finding? "Attitudes toward EVs don't differ that much based on how often people take long car trips. "In fact, those who regularly drive more than 100 miles are slightly more likely to say they currently own an electric vehicle or hybrid - and also to say they'd consider purchasing an EV in the future - when compared with those who make these trips less often."

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