driving toward progress
Texas ranks high on new EV study, but Houston was outpaced by other metros
A new study shows that Texas is among the top of the pack for states with the most electric vehicle registrations. But Houston falls behind other large metros in the state for EV friendliness.
The March report from StorageCafe, which compiled data from the Federal Transit Administration, the Federal Highway Administration, the Department of Energy and other sources, showed that Texas had the third-most EV registrations in the county in 2021 at 112,000 vehicles.
California outpaced the rest of the country by a longshot with 878,000 registrations, claiming the number one spot. Florida had the second-most registrations at 128,000.
The report also looked at EV friendliness, which factored in EV registrations as well as the number of charging stations per household, EV exemptions, incentives and various other factors.
Houston was ranked 32nd on the friendliness list. The report found that Bayou City drivers registered 27,251 EVs in 2021. Charging stations are available in about 3.8 percent of rental buildings and there are 0.2 charging stations for every 1,000 households in the city.
Dallas claimed the top spot for the state at No. 15 with more than 29,000 EV registrations in 2021. Though Dallas has the same ratio of EV charging stations per household, there are more charging stations in rental buildings in the city.
Austin, at No. 22, also outranked Houston. Though the capital city only registered 8,730 EVs in 2021 there are much more charging stations per household (0.7 for every 1,000) and in rental buildings (5.5 percent).
San Antonio came in at No. 36, the McAllen area at No. 75, and El Paso at No. 83.
Seattle was named the friendliest place to own an EV. The drivers in the city registered more than 47,000 EVs in 2021.
Doug Ressler, a business intelligence manager at Yardi Matrix, which contributed to the report, weighed in on the findings.
“The electric car movement is gaining momentum, but it isn’t without its challenges. The high price of an EV–although brought down by incentives now – range and charging stations still pose some problems," he said in a statement. "However, with the expansion of the charging network–including in apartment buildings–and the gradual lowering of the EV price, buying and using an EV can become mainstream in the foreseeable future."
He also estimated that EVs will "dominate the car market" by 2045. By 2050, he said EVs could make up about 90 percent of the market.
Earlier this month Hertz announced that it would triple Houston's electric rental fleet, as well as add a fast-charging hub to Hobby Airport that's designed to serve ride-hail, taxi fleets and the general public.
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This article originally ran on InnovationMap.
