RIVERSIDE – California’s metro areas are the nation’s ultimate hotspots for those considering a battery-powered car. According to StorageCafe’s latest ranking of the largest 100+ metro areas based on their electric-vehicle friendliness, California claims half of the spots in the top 20. In fact, the West Coast swept every category of Storage Cafe’s study, leading the charge toward the EV trend.
A beacon of sustainability, the state of California has the most infrastructure to support an electric automobile community. Overall, EV ownership in California increased 27% in 2021 compared to 2020 and now counts over 878,000 electric vehicles.
Some key stats make California metros stand out from the rest.
With a host of things to do within a small radius and many charging stations, the San Diego metro stands out as the fifth best city for electric cars in 2023. EVs are a common sight in San Diego with over 73,000 electric cars, the fifth-highest EV presence across the 100 largest metros. San Diego has more than 1,000 public charging stations. Renters who drive their EVs through town also have cause to celebrate – 4.8% of apartments are located in multifamily buildings that offer charging capability.
Sacramento is another spot where electric vehicles are thriving. The metro ranked as the nation’s sixth leading city for EV-friendliness. Sacramento is No. 7 for its public charging stations correlated with population – 0.8/1,000 households. It also boasts about 123 HOV lane miles, or 13% of the highway mileage, which support EV driving.
Ranking ninth overall for EV-friendliness, Riverside is shaping up to be a contender in the electric vehicle race. The city offers over 100,000 EVs, which brings the number to about seven electric cars per 100 households. The high EV ownership is matched by local efforts to deliver in terms of infrastructure with 800-plus public charging stations. Additionally, a sizable chunk of the highway system, or 13.4%, is dedicated to EVs among other categories of vehicles.
Stockton rounds out the top 10 best places for electric cars. While the area is home to fewer EVs overall at 17,000 than other cities in the state, distribution per population indicates that they’re highly popular. There are over 7.2 electric vehicles per 100 households.
To find the full StorageCafe report, together with how experts answered some questions about the future of electric vehicle adoption, visit https://www.storagecafe.com/blog/the-best-places-in-the-us-for-electric-vehicles/.
Submitted by StorageCafe.
