IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v16y2025i1d10.1038_s41467-024-55696-8.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Finding gaps in the national electric vehicle charging station coverage of the United States

Author

Listed:
  • Lily Hanig

    (Carnegie Mellon University
    National Renewable Energy Laboratory)

  • Catherine Ledna

    (National Renewable Energy Laboratory)

  • Destenie Nock

    (Carnegie Mellon University
    Carnegie Mellon University)

  • Corey D. Harper

    (Carnegie Mellon University
    Carnegie Mellon University)

  • Arthur Yip

    (National Renewable Energy Laboratory)

  • Eric Wood

    (National Renewable Energy Laboratory)

  • C. Anna Spurlock

    (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)

Abstract

The United States federal government has invested $7.5 billion into charging infrastructure, including the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program, to build fast charging stations along designated highways for long-distance car travel. We develop a consecutive coverage metric to compute the percent of United States roads (traffic-weighted) that are consecutively accessible within 500 miles of each county. We answer (1) what the state of consecutive coverage is in each county and (2) what the increase in coverage is when designated highways receive fast chargers. In 2023, 10% of counties had at least 75% minimum viable coverage. We find that if all designated highways receive fast-charging stations, 94% of United States counties will reach at least 75% fast charger coverage. However, the remaining counties are rural. This demonstrates that federal funding for fast chargers will help connect most—but not all—counties to the national network of continuously accessible charging stations.

Suggested Citation

  • Lily Hanig & Catherine Ledna & Destenie Nock & Corey D. Harper & Arthur Yip & Eric Wood & C. Anna Spurlock, 2025. "Finding gaps in the national electric vehicle charging station coverage of the United States," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-13, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-024-55696-8
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-55696-8
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-55696-8
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-024-55696-8?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hidrue, Michael K. & Parsons, George R. & Kempton, Willett & Gardner, Meryl P., 2011. "Willingness to pay for electric vehicles and their attributes," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 686-705, September.
    2. Egbue, Ona & Long, Suzanna, 2012. "Barriers to widespread adoption of electric vehicles: An analysis of consumer attitudes and perceptions," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 717-729.
    3. Mulrow, John & Derrible, Sybil & Samaras, Constantine, 2019. "Sociotechnical convex hulls and the evolution of transportation activity: A method and application to US travel survey data," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    4. Ledna, Catherine & Muratori, Matteo & Brooker, Aaron & Wood, Eric & Greene, David, 2022. "How to support EV adoption: Tradeoffs between charging infrastructure investments and vehicle subsidies in California," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    5. Almeida Neves, Sónia & Cardoso Marques, António & Alberto Fuinhas, José, 2019. "Technological progress and other factors behind the adoption of electric vehicles: Empirical evidence for EU countries," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 28-39.
    6. Fernando Aguilar Lopez & Dirk Lauinger & François Vuille & Daniel B. Müller, 2024. "On the potential of vehicle-to-grid and second-life batteries to provide energy and material security," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-11, December.
    7. Christopher Hoehne & Matteo Muratori & Paige Jadun & Brian Bush & Arthur Yip & Catherine Ledna & Laura Vimmerstedt & Kara Podkaminer & Ookie Ma, 2023. "Exploring decarbonization pathways for USA passenger and freight mobility," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-15, December.
    8. Jing Liang & Yueming (Lucy) Qiu & Pengfei Liu & Pan He & Denise L. Mauzerall, 2023. "Effects of expanding electric vehicle charging stations in California on the housing market," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 6(5), pages 549-558, May.
    9. Vergis, Sydney & Chen, Belinda, 2015. "Comparison of plug-in electric vehicle adoption in the United States: A state by state approach," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 56-64.
    10. Lukas Lanz & Bessie Noll & Tobias S. Schmidt & Bjarne Steffen, 2022. "Comparing the levelized cost of electric vehicle charging options in Europe," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-13, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Peng, Ruoqing & Tang, Justin Hayse Chiwing G. & Yang, Xiong & Meng, Meng & Zhang, Jie & Zhuge, Chengxiang, 2024. "Investigating the factors influencing the electric vehicle market share: A comparative study of the European Union and United States," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 355(C).
    2. Alali, Layla & Niesten, Eva & Gagliardi, Dimitri, 2022. "The impact of UK financial incentives on the adoption of electric fleets: The moderation effect of GDP change," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 200-220.
    3. Mustafa Hamurcu & Tamer Eren, 2023. "Multicriteria decision making and goal programming for determination of electric automobile aimed at sustainable green environment: a case study," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 43(2), pages 211-231, June.
    4. White, Lee V. & Sintov, Nicole D., 2017. "You are what you drive: Environmentalist and social innovator symbolism drives electric vehicle adoption intentions," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 94-113.
    5. Gabriel Ayobami Ogunkunbi & Havraz Khedhir Younis Al-Zibaree & Ferenc Meszaros, 2022. "Modeling and Evaluation of Market Incentives for Battery Electric Vehicles," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-11, April.
    6. Martin Kalthaus & Jiatang Sun, 2021. "Determinants of Electric Vehicle Diffusion in China," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 80(3), pages 473-510, November.
    7. Bera, Reema & Maitra, Bhargab, 2021. "Assessing consumer preferences for Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV): An Indian perspective," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    8. Berliner, Rosaria, 2018. "Drivers of Change in a World of Mobility Disruption: An Overview of Long Distance Travel, Shared Mobility, and Automated Vehicles," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt6r64v86z, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.
    9. Kim, Junghun & Seung, Hyunchan & Lee, Jongsu & Ahn, Joongha, 2020. "Asymmetric preference and loss aversion for electric vehicles: The reference-dependent choice model capturing different preference directions," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    10. Andriosopoulos, Kostas & Bigerna, Simona & Bollino, Carlo Andrea & Micheli, Silvia, 2018. "The impact of age on Italian consumers' attitude toward alternative fuel vehicles," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 299-308.
    11. Bhat, Furqan A. & Verma, Ashish, 2024. "Electric two-wheeler adoption in India – A discrete choice analysis of motivators and barriers affecting the potential electric two-wheeler buyers," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 118-131.
    12. Cohen, Jed & Azarova, Valeriya & Kollmann, Andrea & Reichl, Johannes, 2019. "Q-complementarity in household adoption of photovoltaics and electricity-intensive goods: The case of electric vehicles," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 567-577.
    13. Reema Bera & Bhargab Maitra, 2021. "Analyzing Prospective Owners’ Choice Decision towards Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles in Urban India: A Stated Preference Discrete Choice Experiment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-24, July.
    14. Makena Coffman & Paul Bernstein & Sherilyn Wee, 2017. "Electric vehicles revisited: a review of factors that affect adoption," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(1), pages 79-93, January.
    15. Wee, Sherilyn & Coffman, Makena & Allen, Scott, 2020. "EV driver characteristics: Evidence from Hawaii," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 33-40.
    16. Zunian Luo, 2022. "Powering Up a Slow Charging Market: How Do Government Subsidies Affect Charging Station Supply?," Papers 2210.14908, arXiv.org, revised Jan 2023.
    17. Danielis, Romeo & Scorrano, Mariangela & Giansoldati, Marco & Rotaris, Lucia, 2019. "A meta-analysis of the importance of the driving range in consumers’ preference studies for battery electric vehicles," Working Papers 19_2, SIET Società Italiana di Economia dei Trasporti e della Logistica.
    18. Lin, Boqiang & Tan, Ruipeng, 2017. "Estimation of the environmental values of electric vehicles in Chinese cities," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 221-229.
    19. Fajar Nurrohman Haryadi & Arionmaro Asi Simaremare & Shochrul Rohmatul Rohmatul & Dzikri Firmansyah Hakam & Kevin Gausultan Hadith Mangunkusumo, 2023. "Investigating the Impact of Key Factors on Electric/Electric-Vehicle Charging Station Adoption in Indonesia," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 13(3), pages 434-442, May.
    20. Seung Jun Choi & Junfeng Jiao, 2024. "Uncovering electric vehicle ownership disparities using K-means clustering analysis: A case study of Austin, Texas," Journal of Computational Social Science, Springer, vol. 7(3), pages 2403-2456, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-024-55696-8. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.