LA’s EV Chargers Unevenly Distributed, Resulting in ‘Charging Deserts’

A new mapping tool reveals that sizable areas of Los Angeles are electric vehicle ‘charging deserts,’ reports Joann Muller in Axios.

“If a monster EV market like L.A. can't get public charging right, the rest of America is probably not doing much better,” Muller adds. “Nearly 588,000 EVs are registered in L.A. — about 4.2% of cars on the road there. In April, the most recent month available, EVs made up 21.5% of L.A.'s new car registrations.”

As Muller explains, “The tool pulls in a massive amount of data from up to 80 sources, including mobile phones, traffic, EV ownership, housing types, crime, etc.” and compares data to determine where EV owners are charging.

The ‘charging deserts’ are littered across the Los Angeles area and include Redondo Beach, Inglewood, and the campuses of UCLA and Cal State, Fullerton. “In Inglewood, for example, there are no public chargers — despite more than 1,000 registered EVs and 6,000 more passing through daily on I-405.”