Electric cars are gaining a lot of traction across the United States, but there are still regions where these alternative fuel vehicles are far more popular than the rest of the country, thanks to the existence of an appropriate support infrastructure. Ever since electric vehicles first hit the market, California has been leading the way in EV adoption, with an uneven and inconsistent charging infrastructure in other regions across the country, which can be seen on the latest list of friendliest cities for EVs released by ChargePoint.
The company that operates the world’s largest network of EV charging stations has released a new list of Top Ten EV Friendly Regions, according to which, the U.S. West Coast remains at the forefront of EV adoption, but it also shows signs of significant EV growth in other markets outside of California and its neighboring states.
According to ChargePoint’s list, California is still the best region for EVs in the United States, with the San Francisco Bay area taking the top spot, followed by Los Angeles at the number two spot, improving its position by 4 places compared to last year’s list. Seattle, Washington, and Honolulu, Hawaii, are the only cities outside of California that managed to secure a place in the top 5, coming in at number 3 and 5, respectively, with San Diego taking 4th place.
The second half of the list offers a few surprises and shows that a more widespread adoption of electric vehicles is imminent. Austin, Texas, takes 6th place, followed by Detroit, Atlanta, and Denver, with Portland, Oregon, rounding out the top ten list. The biggest surprises are definitely Detroit, Atlanta and Denver, since they had a pretty poor EV charging infrastructure until recently. But, CharePoint has detected a big growth in the EV market in these cities, with a drastic increase of EV sales and the number of charging stations.
“Although the West Coast continues to lead the nation in EV friendliness, the fact that cities such as Atlanta and Denver broke into the top 10 demonstrates that this is not a regional trend but that our nation is quickly transitioning from gas-powered cars to EVs,” said ChargePoint CEO Pasquale Romano. “In cities across the country, it’s becoming easier than ever to drive an EV — and that’s good news for our industry and for our environment.”
According to the report, there are over 6,500 electric vehicles in the Denver area currently, supported by 300 charging sites, which is a major improvement compared to previous years, although still far from the number of registered EVs in Los Angeles and San Francisco, with 57,000 and 48,000, respectively. The growth in Denver, Detroit and Atlanta is mostly due to the generous state incentives for the purchase of an electric car. For example, Georgia awards a 20% tax credit up to $5,000 for an EV purchase, and Colorado offers tax credits of up to $6,000. These financial incentives are in addition to the federal tax credits of up to $7,500.