For drivers of electric vehicles seeking to take a road trip across the United States this year, they may find large gaps in infrastructure in the western EV corridor, according to J.D. Power.
Based on its E-Vision Intelligence Report, which pulls some information from AAA data, 43.2 million Americans went on a road trip July 4 weekend — up 2.4 per cent from 2022 and 4 per cent from 2019. Crowds swarmed national parks and hot spots like Zion, Yellowstone, Arches, and others in the western U.S. that still lack the necessary EV infrastructure, even with nationwide initiatives being launched — a familiar tale in Canada.
According to J.D. Power, the governors of Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming committed to an initiative that aims to create an EV corridor in these eight western states. The goal is to have EV charging stations within 50-100 miles (approximately 81-161 kilometres) of one another as these states are all prime summer road trip destinations.
“Currently, many stretches between these states — and major summer tourist destinations like Zion National Park, Las Vegas and Salt Lake City — can reach upwards of 270 miles with limited charging availability, pushing the range limits of many popular EVs,” said J.D. Power in its new release.
The company also highlighted that infrastructure scores were down four points (on a 100-point index) in May 2023 when compared to a year earlier. “Charger availability continues to vary widely by state, with some states, like California, offering an average distance between charging ports of just 10 miles (16 km), and others, like Nebraska, stretching that average distance between chargers to 465 miles (748 km),” they said.
In May, Canada’s Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra and Pete Buttigieg, United States Secretary of Transportation, announced a project to build an EV corridor that will allow Canadian and U.S. drivers to travel and charge their vehicle across the border. And Canada has its own plans to beef up EV charging infrastructure within the country.
