What Are The 6 Best States For Owning A Tesla?
What are the 6 best states in the US in which to own a Tesla? Well, it’s great to own a Tesla in any state, of course! More specifically, which states provide the best incentives for Tesla owners (carpool lane access, free parking, cheaper overnight charging rates, etc)? Furthermore, which states feature the best Supercharger and service center access?
These questions were explored recently by the folks over at US News, in an article that was quite interesting.
So, which 6 states stood above the others? According to the article, they were: California, Florida, Nevada, Maryland, Colorado, and Tennessee.
While many of the choices were obvious ones, a few were a bit more interesting and provided some new information that I hadn’t quite made note of.
A good example is the carpool lane access in Tennessee, and also the state’s relatively low electricity rates — allowing for relatively cheap overnight charging. Granted, the electricity in Tennessee isn’t quite as “clean” as in some other states, which matters to many buyers, and rooftop solar isn’t as financially attractive in Tennessee as in several other states.
The statewide free parking that’s available to electric vehicle owners in Nevada is another good example … somehow or other, I hadn’t been aware of that offer until now (or at least don’t remember learning of it).
While the full article is worth a look if you have the time, here’s a quick overview for those without it:
California: 43 Supercharger locations, and extensive third-party public charging infrastructure. Solo-driver access to carpool/HOV lanes with an EV. Ease of purchase in the state. Utility company rebates for electric vehicle purchases. Free parking for electric vehicles in many cities in the state. Electricity rate discounts for overnight charging with some utility companies. A warm climate that’s relatively easy on lithium-ion battery health and available capacity.
Florida: Largest public EV charging station network in the country (762 locations). 14 Supercharger locations. Carpool/HOV lane access to solo EV drivers. Low electricity rates.
Nevada: Free statewide parking for EVs in publicly owned lots. Access to carpool/HOV lanes. Cheap electricity rates, and a discount for EV charging. The Gigafactory is being built there.
Maryland: Large public EV charging station network. Cheap electricity rates. Carpool/HOV lane access. $3,000 tax credit for EVs.
Colorado: $5,000 tax credit for EVs. Sales tax exemption for EV purchases. Low electricity rates.
Tennessee: Low electricity rates. Extensive public EV charging network. Carpool/HOV lane access for EVs.
Naturally, with different assumptions and different weights on the various factors, the results could be quite different. If anyone else wants to give such a ranking a shot, I’m sure we would be interested to have a look.
Also, notably, most of the factors used are factors supporting any electric car, and in some cases (like public charging networks), the factors are even more important for non-Tesla and non-PHEV owners.
Photo by Zach Shahan | CleanTechnica | EV Obsession
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