CA Among The Best States In Nation To Own An Electric Car: Report

CALIFORNIA — As more Americans switch to electric vehicles to avoid soaring gas prices, a new data report has ranked the best and worst for EV friendliness. Bumper, the leading vehicle history reports company, ranked California near the top of the list at No. 5.

The company's data report comes as President Joe Biden's infrastructure plan aims to get electric vehicles to 50 percent of new vehicle sales by 2030.

California typically tops these kinds of lists due to its excellent electric vehicle infrastructure, but when EV financial incentives are taken into account, overall there are four states which actually beat it, the company reports. Those states are: Massachusetts (No. 4), Colorado (No. 3), Utah (No. 2) and Washington (No. 1).

Here are the top 10 states considered among the best to own an electric car:

According to Bumper's data report, California leads the way on registered electric vehicles, but it’s far from outpacing gas-powered cars. The state accounts for a whopping 41.7 percent of all registered electric vehicles nationwide as of Dec. 31, 2020, with 425,300, followed by Florida , Texas, Washington and New York.

States with the fewest electric vehicles on the road were North Dakota, Wyoming, South Dakota , West Virginia and Mississippi, Bumper found.

States earning top scores for EV infrastructure are Vermont, California, Maryland, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. States at the bottom for infrastructure are Alaska, Kentucky, Louisiana, Wisconsin and Alabama.

California leads the growth for the total number of new EV charge stations, the report found. From Jan. 2017 through Aug. 5, 2021, the state totaled 11,833 stations, followed by New York (2,273), Florida (1,901), Texas (1,771) and Massachusetts (1,662).

The states with the fewest EV stations opening since 2017 are South Dakota (30), Alaska (33), Wyoming (37), Montana (42) and North Dakota (49).

To compile its report, Bumper ranked all 50 states for EV friendliness using 10 ranking factors, including number of EV rebates and tax incentives, recharge cost, average price of gas and number of new charging stations since 2017. To view the entire report, click here.