California Now Has More EV Charging Plugs Than Gas Pumps

California has long led the nation on environmental issues, and it offers some of the most aggressive electric vehicle incentives in the country. Knowing that, it’s not surprising to learn that the number of EV chargers in the state recently surpassed the number of gas pumps, with Governor Gavin Newsom announcing the milestone last week.

Newsom said the state, which accounts for 30 percent of new zero-emissions vehicle sales in the country, had installed 178,549 chargers, far more than the 120,000 or so gas pumps. “As the federal government makes it harder for you to charge your electric car, California is doing the opposite,” he said. Most of the chargers – more than 162,000 – are Level 2, and another 17,000 are DC fast chargers.

In addition to the public charging network, more than 700,000 California EV owners have Level 2 chargers installed at home. The state has also planned to invest $1.4 billion in projects that further improve the network and expand its capabilities to other fuel types, including hydrogen. A large part of the growth and future success depends on the state’s data collection, which it says has helped with managing electricity demand and charger reliability standards.

California officials also want to make it easier and faster to get an EV charger build permit, including for home installations. While EV sales growth and continued federal incentives are far from guaranteed, California’s efforts show that they aren’t going to disappear, as some have predicted.

[Images: Felipe Sanchez, MKPhoto12, Sundry Photography via Shutterstock]

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