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Interactive: EV Charging Stations Across the U.S. Mapped

Published

7 months ago

October 25, 2022

Niccolo Conte

Graphics/Design:

Christina Kostandi

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View the non-interactive version of this map here.

Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Across America: Mapped

This was originally posted on Elements. Sign up to the free mailing list to get beautiful visualizations on natural resource megatrends in your email every week.

As the electric vehicle market continues to expand, having enough EV charging stations is essential to enable longer driving ranges and lower wait times at chargers.

Currently, the U.S. has about 140,000 public EV chargers distributed across almost 53,000 charging stations, which are still far outnumbered by the 145,000 gas fueling stations in the country.

This graphic maps out EV charging stations across the U.S. using data from the National Renewable Energy Lab. The map has interactive features when viewed on desktop, showing pricing structures and the connector types when hovering over a charging station, along with filtering options.

Which States Lead in EV Charging Infrastructure?

As seen in the map above, most electric vehicle charging stations in the U.S. are located on the west and east coasts of the nation, while the Midwest strip is fairly barren aside from the state of Colorado.

California has the highest number of EV charging stations at 15,182, making up an impressive 29% of all charging stations in America. In fact, the Golden State has nearly double the chargers of the following three states, New York (3,085), Florida (2,858), and Texas (2,419) combined.

Rank	State	Number of charging stations	Share of U.S. charging stations
1	California	15,182	28.7%
2	New York	3,085	5.8%
3	Florida	2,858	5.4%
4	Texas	2,419	4.6%
5	Massachusetts	2,328	4.4%
6	Washington	1,810	3.4%
7	Colorado	1,718	3.2%
8	Georgia	1,596	3.0%
9	Maryland	1,358	2.6%
10	Pennsylvania	1,260	2.4%
	U.S. Total	52,889	100.0%

It’s no surprise the four top states by GDP have the highest number of EV chargers, and California’s significant lead is also unsurprising considering its ambition to completely phase out the sale of new gas vehicles by 2035.

The Best States for EV Charging Speeds and Cost

While having many charging stations distributed across a state is important, two other factors determine charging convenience: cost and charger level availability.

EV charger pricing structures and charger level availability across the nation are a Wild West with no set rules and few clear expectations.

Finding Free Electric Vehicle Chargers Across States

Generous electric vehicle charging locations will offer unlimited free charging or a time cap between 30 minutes and 4 hours of free charging before payment is required. Some EV charging stations located in parking structures simply require a parking fee, while others might have a flat charging fee per session, charge by kWh consumed, or have an hourly rate.

While California leads in terms of the raw amount of free chargers available in the state, it’s actually the second-worst in the top 10 states when it comes to the share of chargers, at only 11% of them free for 30 minutes or more.

Rank	State name	Number of free charging stations	Share of free charging stations in the state
1	California	1,717	11.3%
2	Florida	673	23.6%
3	New York	662	21.5%
4	Texas	606	25.1%
5	Maryland	399	29.4%
6	Georgia	360	22.6%
7	Washington	358	19.8%
8	Pennsylvania	318	25.2%
9	Colorado	273	15.9%
10	Massachusetts	150	6.4%
	U.S. Total	10,295	19.5%

Meanwhile, Maryland leads with almost 30% of the chargers in the state that offer a minimum of 30 minutes of free charging. On the other hand, Massachusetts is the stingiest state of the top 10, with only 6% of charging stations (150 total) in the state offering free charging for electric vehicle drivers.

The States with the Best DC Fast Charger Availability

While free EV chargers are great, having access to fast chargers can matter just as much, depending on how much you value your time. Most EV drivers across the U.S. will have access to level 2 chargers, with more than 86% of charging stations in the country having level 2 chargers available.

Although level 2 charging (4-10 hours from empty to full charge) beats the snail’s pace of level 1 charging (40-50 hours from empty to full charge), between busy schedules and many charging stations that are only free for the first 30 minutes, DC fast charger availability is almost a necessity.

Direct current fast chargers can charge an electric vehicle from empty to 80% in 20-60 minutes but are only available at 12% of America’s EV charging stations today.

Rank	State	Number of stations with DC fast charger available	Share of DC fast charger available stations in state	Share of free and DC fast charger available stations in state
1	California	1,756	11.6%	0.7%
2	Florida	360	12.6%	1.1%
3	Texas	276	11.4%	1.2%
4	Colorado	243	14.1%	1.1%
5	New York	234	7.6%	0.8%
6	Washington	232	12.8%	1.1%
7	Georgia	228	14.3%	1.4%
8	Maryland	223	16.4%	2.7%
9	Pennsylvania	134	10.6%	1.0%
10	Massachusetts	134	5.8%	0.2%
	U.S. Total	6,540	12.4%	0.9%

Just like free stations, Maryland leads the top 10 states in having the highest share of DC fast chargers at 16%. While Massachusetts was the worst state for DC charger availability at 6%, the state of New York was second worst at 8% despite its large number of chargers overall. All other states in the top 10 have DC chargers available in at least one in 10 charging stations.

As for the holy grail of charging stations, with free charging and DC fast charger availability, almost 1% of the country’s charging stations are there. So if you’re hoping for free and DC fast charging, the chances in most states are around one in 100.

The Future of America’s EV Charging Infrastructure

As America works towards Biden’s goal of having half of all new vehicles sold in 2030 be zero-emissions vehicles (battery electric, plug-in hybrid electric, or fuel cell electric), charging infrastructure across the nation is essential in improving accessibility and convenience for drivers.

The Biden administration has given early approval to 35 states’ EV infrastructure plans, granting them access to $900 million in funding as part of the $5 billion National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program set to be distributed over the next five years.

Along with this program, a $2.5 billion Discretionary Grant Program aims to increase EV charging access in rural, undeserved, and overburdened communities, along with the Inflation Reduction Act’s $3 billion dedicated to supporting access to EV charging for economically disadvantaged communities.

With more than $10 billion being invested into EV charging infrastructure over the next five years and more than half the sum focused on communities with poor current access, charger availability across America is set to continue improving in the coming years.

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Mapped: Air Pollution Levels Around the World in 2022

Exploring 2022 average air pollution levels around the world by PM2.5 concentration.

Published

2 months ago

April 13, 2023

Selin Oğuz

Mapped: Air Pollution Levels Around the World

This was originally posted on Elements. Sign up to the free mailing list to get beautiful visualizations on natural resource megatrends in your email every week.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that air pollution leads to 7 million premature deaths every year.

Out of the six common air pollutants, particulate matter measuring 2.5 microns or smaller in diameter, or PM2.5, is accepted as the most harmful to human health. This is due to its prevalence in the atmosphere and the broad range of adverse health effects associated with its exposure, such as heart disease, stroke, lung cancer and chronic respiratory diseases.

With that context in mind, this visualization uses IQAir’s World Air Quality Report to map out the 2022 average PM2.5 concentrations in select major cities around the globe, expressed in micrograms per cubic meter (μg/m³).

Understanding the WHO Air Pollution Guidelines

Did you know that in 2019, only 1% of the global population lived in places where WHO global air quality guidelines were met?

Designed to protect public health from the harmful effects of air pollution, the guidelines cover a range of air pollutants, including particulate matter, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and carbon monoxide.

The healthy limits for PM2.5 are set at an annual average of 0-5 μg/m³.

WHO Classification	Annual Average PM2.5 Concentration (μg/m³)	% of countries within classification, 2022*
WHO Air Quality Guideline	0 - 5	9.9%
Interim Target 4	5.1 - 10	18.3%
Interim Target 3	10.1 - 15	19.8%
Interim Target 2	15.1 - 25	28.2%
Interim Target 1	25.1 - 35	9.9%
Exceeds Target Levels	35.1 - 50	7.6%
Exceeds Target Levels	> 50	6.1%

*Percentages are calculated as a proportion of the 131 countries that had sufficient air quality data and were included in IQAir’s World Air Quality Report in 2022.

According to IQAir’s World Air Quality Report, only 13 countries or territories met the recommended concentration of PM2.5 in 2022. Among them were Australia, Finland, Puerto Rico, Iceland, Bermuda, and Guam.

Above this guideline, many countries fell within the four interim targets, while nearly 14% recorded air pollution levels that exceeded all target levels.

The Effects of Air Quality on Mortality

While it can be a little difficult to grasp what the above concentrations represent, thinking of them in terms of their effect on mortality can shed some light on their significance.

According to the WHO, non-accidental mortality rates multiply by 1.08 per 10 µg/m³ increase in PM2.5 concentration, but only up to 35 μg/m³. Above that, mortality growth rates may not be linear, resulting in many more deaths.

Here is an example to highlight what that means.

Say that, for a population living within the WHO PM2.5 guideline, the non-accidental mortality rate is arbitrarily set to 100 deaths for a given period.
If this area’s PM2.5 concentration goes up to 10 μg/m³, putting them at Interim Target 4, they would see 104 deaths in that same amount of time.
At Interim Target 3, where their PM2.5 concentration would be 15 μg/m³, they would see 108 deaths.
At Interim Target 2, they’d see 117.
Finally, at Interim Target 1, they’d see 126.

Beyond Interim Target 1 (above 35 μg/m³), deaths would potentially grow much faster. As of 2022, around 14% of countries report levels above this threshold, including Chad, India, Pakistan, Qatar, and Nigeria.

The State of Air Pollution Around the World

While many cities in North America and Europe have seen steady and relatively lower PM2.5 concentrations during the last few years, many cities (especially those in Asia) have been making strides in lowering their air pollution levels.

Nonetheless, many of them still record PM2.5 concentrations that are more than six times the WHO guideline.

City	2022 annual average PM2.5 concentration (μg/m³)	2018 annual average PM2.5 concentration (μg/m³)
🇪🇬 Cairo, Egypt	47.4	N/A
🇮🇳 Mumbai, India	46.7	58.6
🇦🇪 Dubai, UAE	43.7	55.3
🇮🇩 Jakarta, Indonesia	36.2	45.3
🇳🇬 Lagos, Nigeria	36.1	N/A
🇨🇳 Beijing, China	29.8	50.9
🇵🇪 Lima, Peru	25.6	28
🇲🇽 Mexico City, Mexico	22.1	19.7
🇨🇳 Guangzhou, China	21.3	33.2
🇵🇭 Manila, Philippines	14.6	N/A
🇦🇷 Buenos Aires, Argentina	14.2	12.4
🇸🇬 Singapore, Singapore	13.3	14.8
🇮🇹 Rome, Italy	12.6	N/A
🇰🇪 Nairobi, Kenya	11.5	N/A
🇷🇺 Moscow, Russia	10.8	10.1
🇧🇷 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	10.6	N/A
🇺🇸 Los Angeles, USA	10.5	14.4
🇺🇸 New York, USA	9.9	N/A
🇬🇧 London, UK	9.6	12
🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan	9.2	13.1
🇨🇦 Toronto, Canada	8.5	7.8
🇨🇦 Vancouver, Canada	7.6	N/A
🇳🇴 Oslo, Norway	6.9	8.2
🇿🇦 Cape Town, South Africa	6.7	N/A
🇺🇸 Miami, USA	6.4	7.8
🇦🇺 Perth, Australia	4.9	N/A
🇦🇺 Sydney, Australia	3.1	7.6

Most parts of the world did not meet the annual WHO recommendation for clean and healthy air in 2022.

However, the cost of inaction toward cleaner air is very high. In addition to the millions of premature deaths each year, the global cost of health damages associated with air pollution currently sits at $8.1 trillion.

Unfortunately, things that are integral to our quality of life, such as industrial activities, transportation, energy production, and agricultural practices, are also the leading causes of air pollution around the world.

As such, a multi-faceted approach to lowering pollution is essential to protect lives, especially to benefit those already more vulnerable to poor air quality, such as kids and the elderly.