Study Ranks Best and Worst Places To Drive Electric
The cost of buying and running an EV varies depending on where you live. That shouldn’t surprise anyone since it parallels what we know about conventional car ownership. What makes having an electric car a positive experience is not only financial aspects, but a functional ones, something the folks at Jerry have taken into account when they did the research behind their Top 10 list of the best states to own an EV. They used the same metrics to derive the 10 worst states.
In addition to financial issues, such as where incentives are available and how much driving electric will save you compared to filling up with gasoline, the deciding factor for ranking the states was the density of available public charging. When the numbers were tallied, states in the East and West Coasts clearly led the way as the best places to go electric. Midwest and southern states fared the worst in the research. The gap between states, particularly on the critical charging issue, was dramatic. Based on Jerry’s research, an EV-friendly state like Vermont has 10 times the charging infrastructure of states on the bottom of the list like Louisiana, Kentucky and Alaska.
The Top 10 states to own an EV are:
- Massachusetts
- Vermont
- California
- Hawaii
- Rhode Island
- Connecticut
- New York
- Maine
- Colorado
- Maryland
Down at the bottom of the list are:
- Alabama
- Oklahoma
- West Virginia
- Nebraska
- Mississippi
- North Dakota
- Arkansas
- Idaho
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
The ranges of chargers per capita varied from 7.3 per 100,000 residents in Louisiana to 134 per 100,000 in Vermont. When it comes to sheer number of plugs available, California is far ahead of other states with 34,001 plugs installed, more than five times the number at the next state, New York. There’s definitely more work to do to prepare a more comfortable place to drive electric.
Incentives had a similar spread. EV drivers in California, Massachusetts and Maryland could save $8,000 switching to EVs because of about 10 state and local incentives. In contrast, Kentucky, West Virginia, North Dakota and Kansas had no incentives. Most states fell in between, offering a variety of purchase or electricity rate incentives.
Calculating the cost of gas compared to the cost of electricity over the length of car ownership, Jerry found Washington, Oregon and Nevada EV owners would save more than $4,800. That comes from saving more than $2 per gallon, which with average annual mileage driven adds up to more than $600 per year.
Just like they say about real estate, with EVs it’s location, location, location.
Story by Michael Coates. Research by Lakshmi Iyengar. Charts from Jerry.
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When you’re in the right place to buy, check out the Top 10 EVs.
