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Here’s what the future of EV charging looks like in Texas

Many of the state’s chargers are concentrated in affluent urban areas, but plans are in place to change that.

Less than 2% of vehicles in Dallas-Fort Worth are electric, though nearly 40% of the state’s registered EVs are located in the region. Regional and state planners are betting on that number to grow, and the need for chargers along with it. Global passenger EV sales are expected to exceed 30 million in 2027.

“Range anxiety” — the fear of running out of juice before reaching another charger — has deterred some drivers from making the switch to an electric vehicle. Many who own EVs have a second vehicle for longer-range trips. But as automakers, environmental groups and many officials hope EVs will become more ubiquitous, they’re embarking on a plan to make chargers easier to access.

Here’s what to know about the future of EV charging in Texas:

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Public chargers will increase, while home charging becomes easier to access

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Texas is investing $400 million to expand statewide charger access through the five-year Texas Electric Vehicle Charging Plan passed in September 2023. The plan, spearheaded by the Texas Department of Transportation, aims to put enough infrastructure in place to serve a million EVs. That’s nearly five times as many as the state has now.

Step one is to reduce range anxiety in long-range travel, which the plan says “is the best way to build out a statewide charging network.” Most EVs can get at least 110 miles on a full charge, with some models exceeding 300, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

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Certain highway routes across the state have been designated as alternative fuel corridors. These corridors, like I-35 between Dallas, Austin and San Antonio, must be completely traversable by non-gas vehicles with roadside charging stations at most every 50 miles. Each station along highways or at county seats is required to have at least four ports in case traffic is bad or one goes offline.

TxDOT will work with private charging providers to install stations along these corridors, but will not own or operate them. A full battery refill at a fast charger costs anywhere between $10-$30 on average.

On the residential side, charging options for people without a garage are becoming more common. The City of Dallas is aiming to install 1,500 EV charging ports throughout the city by 2030 as part of its climate action plan, many in apartment complexes. A study by the North Central Texas Council of Governments found that 54% of multifamily housing locations do not currently have access to a charger.

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“As there’s a wider acceptance of the cars and people start buying them, you have to be able to get to a charger,” said Neal Farris, a former vice president of the local chapter of the North Texas Electric Auto Association. “Because if you live in an apartment, you can’t do a fast charge, you can’t charge overnight, you don’t have a place where you can plug in your car and let it sit for hours and hours and hours.”

Most chargers are in affluent urban areas — for now

Although there are state-wide and national plans for electrification, charging infrastructure is not spaced out equitably. People with higher incomes — and living in more affluent areas — have historically been early adopters of EVs, though that is changing as vehicles become more affordable.

“I think most of the adoption has been in this segment of the market where people have been able to sort of avoid all the inconveniences of owning an electric vehicle,” said Erich Muehlegger, a professor of economics at the University of California-Davis who has researched electric vehicles. “Either because they can charge that vehicle at home, or because they have an alternative vehicle that they can use for those longer trips where range anxiety might be more of a problem.”

Most of Dallas’ chargers are located north of Interstate 30 in central and northern Dallas. Built by private companies, charging stations are often concentrated in urban shopping centers, airports and hotels where people tend to park for long periods.

Low-income neighborhoods and less urbanized areas lack charging access — more than 70% of public EV charging ports are in the top fifth of U.S. counties for income, one study found.

Regional planners are hoping to change that. The North Central Texas Council of Governments, along with local partners, is heading up an effort to install up to 100 charging ports at public stations throughout the 16-county region. That initiative, backed by a $15 million federal grant, is focused on filling gaps in charging deserts.

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The statewide plan mandates fast-charging stations be installed at rural county seats — half of the state’s federal EV grants are dedicated to rural areas — allowing less-traveled areas to still be accessible.

Charger growth will likely encourage EV adoption, and vice versa

Both EV adoption and charger installation have been rapid in Texas. More than 200 additional chargers have been installed since late May, climbing from about 3,700 to just under 4,000. The state’s number of registered EVs has also soared, jumping from just under 81,000 in 2021 to nearly 220,000 last year.

But range anxiety can be tough to break. If there aren’t enough chargers to feel confident driving an EV, many people won’t drive them, which can mean fewer chargers are built. Dallas’ charging infrastructure “amounted to “less than 40% of the capacity necessary to meet the demands of public and workplace EVs” in 2022, according to a city memo.

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An important step, Muehlegger said, is when people who may not have garages or charging spaces in their apartment complexes buy EVs. Since they rely on public charging networks, having a dedicated charging place near one’s house or a “density” of stations nearby becomes necessary.

“Many of the households that have adopted electric vehicles so far tend to be relatively higher income households where they are able to pay the upfront cost of that electric vehicle and they don’t really feel the sting of that higher personal price,” Muehlegger said.

Range anxiety isn’t strictly an EV problem, Farris said, and often hits recent adopters harder than longtime EV drivers. The relative scarcity of charging stations compared to gas stations becomes less of an issue once drivers know what’s near them, but many “newbies” haven’t developed that routine or are worried chargers won’t work when they drive up, an especially pressing problem at busy stations.

Still, Farris said as the awareness of chargers increases and people treat them like gas stations, range anxiety will decrease. That just takes time.

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“I think the infrastructure is here. I think it’s kind of like the cake has been baked, and it’s sitting there on the table,” Farris said. “It’s just now they’ve started icing it and putting decorations on it.”

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