Report Highlights EV Growth, Public Charging Shortfalls

Some 437 public chargers will need to be installed every day, for the next seven years — or nearly three chargers every 10 minutes through the end of 2030 — to adequately meet charging demand.

This is one of the findings from a state-by-state analysis of the U.S. electric vehicle market for the fourth quarter and full year 2023 released by the Alliance for Automotive Innovation.

The Get Connected Electric Vehicle Report summarizes EV sales and purchasing trends across all 50 states for the fourth quarter and full year of 2023.

EV Models, % Share of U.S. Total Sales

The report found that 114 EV models were available for sale in the U.S. in Q4 2023. That drove 10.2% of new light-duty vehicle sales in the fourth quarter, up from 10.1% in Q3 2023 and 8.5% in Q4 2022.

For the full year, EVs represent 9.5% of new light-duty vehicle sales, from 7% in 2022 and 4.3% in 2021. Some 377,000 EVs were sold in the U.S. in Q4 2023, a 34% increase over Q4 2022.

Public EV Charging Statistics

Not surprisingly, the report concludes that the installation of U.S. public chargers is not keeping up with current and projected EV sales. The AAI report has data to show the imbalance:

While EV sales increased 51% in 2023, the number of publicly available EV chargers increased only 27% year-over-year.

For the fourth quarter specifically, 377,383 EVs were registered in the U.S. in Q4 2023, but only 8,869 new public chargers were added — a ratio of 43 EVs for every new public port.

Overall, there are 4.3 million EVs on the road (1.5% of all light-duty vehicles in operation) and a total of 159,842 publicly available charging outlets in the U.S., for a ratio of 27 EVs for every public port.

To meet the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s necessary infrastructure estimate for 2030, 1.2 million public chargers need to be installed by then. Put another way, 437 chargers will need to be installed every day, for the next 7 years — or nearly 3 chargers every 10 minutes — through the end of 2030.

Installed Charging Data by Geographic Area

• The top 25 counties with the most public charging ports accounted for one-third of all available U.S. public chargers.
• Of the more than 3,100 counties in the U.S., 31% had zero public charging ports at the end of 2023, compared to 39% in 2022. In 2023, 90 counties installed their first public charge.
• In 2023, there were 33,023 new public EV chargers (22,591 Level 2 and 10,432 DC Fast) added. 
• 12% of U.S. counties added zero new charging ports.
• 40% of U.S. counties added 10 or fewer charging ports.
• 33% of new charging ports were located in just 1% of U.S. counties.
• 20% of all new charging ports were in California.

States with Most EV Sales 2023

• California 25.7%
• District of Columbia 19.6%
• Washington 18.8%
• Oregon 15.4%
• Colorado 15.1%