More EV Chargers Than Gas Pumps but Still the Public Don’t Want Them

California for some time has been at the forefront of the slippery slope into EV ownership oblivion. Now, and according to a release from Governor Gavin Gruesome (sorry Newsome) office the Fruit and Nut State now has more EV chargers than gas pumps. 

In fact the number of EV Chargers is reported to be 178,549 as compared to a mere 120,000 gas pumps.  That is almost 50% more!

On top of this there are estimated to be almost 700,000 EV chargers installed in family homes. Of the public chargers, 17,000 are the much sought-after fast chargers; these are staggering numbers. 

The numbers have indeed grown in leaps and bounds, as the following graph from the California Energy Commission (CEC) shows:

Gavin Gruesome (sorry again, Newsome) is not finished there either. The plan, according to the CEC is to turbo charge the effort and have approved a USD1.4 billion investment plan that will also include the installation of hydrogen pumps.

This may be a little less easy after the Trump administration’s apparent desire to stop public spending on Alternative energy vehicles in favour of private investment.

So, everyone in California is driving EVs then. Not on your Nelly! Despite the surge in charger availability which was probably done to get over the range anxiety effect in 2024 only 24% of all new car registrations in the state were EVs, to put it another way 75% of the population would still rather go with gas-powered vehicles.

And despite the fact that California gave us Tesla, Rivian, and Lucid, there is still strong grassroots resistance to an all-EV future.

Where are all the Cars?