The top state in the US during 2016 as regards plug-in electric vehicle concentrations was California, unsurprisingly. It had a plug-in electric vehicle concentration nearly double that of the runner-up, and effectively at least 3 times that of most other states.
To be more specific, during 2016, there were only 6 US states with plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) registration concentrations higher than 2 units per 1,000. Those states (in case you haven’t examined the map above yet) were:
- California: 6.65 PEVs per 1,000 people
- Hawaii: ~4 PEVs per 1,000 people
- Washington: ~3 PEVs per 1,000 people
- Oregon: ~3 PEVs per 1,000 people
- Vermont: ~2 PEVs per 1,000 people
- Georgia: ~2 PEVs per 1,000 people
During 2016, the US state with the lowest concentration of PEVs was Mississippi — though, it’s worth noting that the state wasn’t completely devoid of electric vehicles.
As one can see in the map above, the highest concentrations of plug-in electric vehicle registrations run along the West Coast (where the incentives on offer are generally quite attractive and populations are more progressive), and in the Northeast (where, likewise, the incentives for the purchase of electric vehicles are relatively attractive and populations more progressive than the norm) — with Georgia in the Deep South being something of an outlier (due to the previous existence of an extremely attractive incentive for electric vehicles).
So, what’s the takeaway from the 2016 figures? That the presence of support infrastructure and programs (charging stations, public outreach programs, lobbying, etc.) and financial purchase incentives for plug-in electric vehicles work. If states other than those now doing so wish to spur increased electric vehicle sales, the path is clear.
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