Installation Of EV Chargers Growing, But Not at Pace to Meet Policy Goals: Report

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
June 22, 2023

Electric vehicle charging stations are being installed at a quickening pace, but not rapidly enough to meet federal policy goals, according to a report by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Using data from the Department of Energy’s Alternative Fueling Station Locator, the report, Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Trends from the Alternative Fueling Station Locator: Fourth Quarter 2022, provides a snapshot of the state of electric vehicle charging infrastructure in the fourth quarter of 2022.

In the fourth quarter, the number of electric vehicle supply equipment ports in the DOE’s Station Locator grew by 5 percent or 7,034 EVSE ports. Public EVSE ports grew by 6.3 percent, or 8,082 EVSE ports, bringing the total number of public ports in the Station Locator to 136,513, the report found.

“When comparing the current rate of deployment of public charging infrastructure with the Biden administration’s goal of reaching 500,000 EVSE ports in the United States by 2030, it is clear that the pace of installations will need to significantly increase in order to meet the administration’s goal,” the report’s authors wrote.

Since the start of 2020, an average of 5,223 public EVSE ports have been installed each quarter, but to meet the Biden administration’s goal, an average of 12,982 public EVSE ports will need to be installed each quarter for the next eight years, equating to an average quarterly growth rate of 4.6 percent, the report said.

NREL’s National Plug-In Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Analysis estimated the United States would require 27,500 direct current fast chargers and 601,000 Level 2 public and workplace chargers to support a scenario of 15 million EVs on the road by 2030.

Based on that analysis, 103.3 percent and 19.5 percent of the required DC fast and Level 2 EVSE ports, respectively, have been installed as of the fourth-quarter 2022, the report found. However, the majority, 60.3 percent, of public DC fast EVSE ports in the Station Locator are on the Tesla network and are only readily accessible to Tesla drivers. When Tesla EVSE ports are removed, the level of ESVE ports required to meet the 2030 goal decreases to 41.1 percent and 17.6 percent, respectively.