Nationwide, the number of electric vehicle charging stations grew by 7.7 percent in the third quarter to 12,986 ports, bringing the total number of electric vehicle charging ports to 181,026, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
NREL’s Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Trends from the Alternative Fueling Station Locator: Third Quarter 2023 report uses data from the Department of Energy’s
Alternative Fueling Station Locator to provide a snapshot of the state of electric vehicle charging infrastructure in the United States by charging level, network, and location.
The report also measures the state of charging infrastructure compared with the NREL’s estimates of the number of public charging stations that would be necessary to accommodate 33 million electric vehicles on the road by 2030.
The comparisons show the current availability of fast direct current and Level 2 charging ports is 9.1 percent and 11.6 percent, respectively, of the projected 2030 need. NREL noted, however, that 61.7 percent of public fast DC charging ports and 8.1 percent of public Level 2 ports in the Station Locator are on Tesla networks and only readily accessible to Tesla vehicles.
When public ports on the Tesla networks are excluded, the number of fast DC and Level 2 ports currently installed to meet the projected 2030 requirements decreases to 5,554, or 3.1 percent, and to 114,069, or 10.7 percent, respectively, NREL said.
The third-quarter report found the number of public electric vehicle charging ports account for most ports in the Station Locator, 88.5 percent, and grew by 8.4 percent or 12,423 ports while private charging ports increased by 2.8 percent, or by 563 ports.
California continues to lead the country in the number of public charging ports, hosting 27 percent of all public ports in the Station Locator, NREL found, noting, however, that California’s share of charging ports has declined from its peak of 32 percent of public ports in the first quarter of 2021, as the number of ports increased in other states.
In particular, the Northwest saw the most substantial growth in public charging infrastructure during the third quarter, with a 13 percent increase in charging ports, NREL said.
Among public charging ports, Level 1 ports saw the most growth in the third quarter, 15.5 percent, with the addition of 132 ports primarily because of ports being installed at airports in Washington and California. Meanwhile, Level 2 and direct-current fast charging ports grew by 8.4 percent and 8.3 percent, respectively.
