Electric car charging stations fall behind growing demand

The rapid increase in electric vehicle sales in the U.S. is far outpacing the growth of public charging infrastructure, posing a challenge to widespread EV adoption.

Shannon Osaka reports for The Washington Post.

In short:

• The U.S. now has over 20 electric cars for every public charger, up from 7 per charger in 2016.
• Tesla’s Supercharger network, a key part of the EV infrastructure, recently faced a setback with the firing of its entire team.
• Despite most EV owners charging at home, public chargers are crucial for long trips and for those without home charging options.

Key quote:

“You often hear about the chicken and the egg question between chargers and electric vehicles. But overall the U.S. needs more public charging.”

— Corey Cantor, senior associate for electric vehicles, BloombergNEF

Why this matters:

For those committed to reducing their carbon footprint, this issue creates a frustrating paradox: they want to support sustainable technology, but logistical hurdles make it difficult. The current infrastructure development is simply not fast enough to meet the burgeoning demand.

Related: Tesla scales back on building electric vehicle charging stations