EDIT: It looks like the study we cited from Jerry is comparing individual charging stalls to entire gas stations, not individual pumps, thus making the information they presented inaccurate. While the information that there are up to 150,000 individual gas stations is true, they each have multiple pumps, so the number of pumps is many times higher than the number of EV charging outlets.

We have adjusted the story to reflect this.

The charging station infrastructure in the United States will catch up to and surpass traditional fuel stations for the number of individual pumps, or charging stalls if the Biden administration's plans to add 500,000 of them by 2030 is fulfilled. There are currently between 110,000 - 150,000 fuel stations (each with multiple individual pumps) and the number of EV charging outlets is around 110,000.

The number of gas stations has been going down for the last two decades, while increasing sales of electric vehicles has spurred constant and sometimes rapid expansion of the charging infrastructure. There are now over 2-million EVs on US roads compared to just 16,000 a decade ago.

One major challenge ahead will be for the charging infrastructure to keep up with the rapidly increasing number of EVs in the US. Projections say that by 2030 the country will have 30-million EVs on its roads, and according to the source, that would require the construction of 478 charger stalls per day for eight years in order to meet the need.

The study also notes which states are best when it comes to the ratio of charging stalls to EVs. North Dakota, Wyoming and West Virginia are the three states where you are most likely to find an empty charging stall, while the worst are New Jersey, Hawaii and Arizona. In the last three there is a higher chance that you may find all local public chargers are taken and you may have to wait or find a way to charge the EV at home.

It is also noted that

According to a report from the U.S. Department of Energy, the ideal ratio of EVs to charging stations is 40 Level 2 charging ports and 3.4 DC fast chargers (DCFC) per 1,000 EVs. (A DCFC charger usually has 3 ports.) 

Currently, there are 41 Level 2 charging ports and 5.7 DCFC charging ports per 1,000 EVs, respectively, or about 21 EVs for every charging port. 

Conversely, there are 2,514 internal combustion engine (ICE) cars per gas station.

EVs are currently at a disadvantage compared to ICE vehicles when it comes to their average range - 259 miles versus 360 miles. And the time it takes to charge an EV is longer than simply filling up a gas tank, so vehicles will be occupying more of the available charging stalls for longer.

Make sure to check out our new series of talks on the US charging network, the first of which can be found below.

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