Bumper Unveils the Best and Worst States to Own Electric Vehicles in 2022

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Bumper, a super app for car owners, announces its list of the Best and Worst States to Own Electric Cars 2022.

The second annual Bumper Best and Worst States to Own Electric Cars study comes on the heels of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which calls for establishing a pathway for more electric vehicle (EV) adoption in the U.S. The IRA provides tax credits and funds to states for the building of more EV chargers. Bumper's analysis ranks states across several factors as they relate to EV ownership and each state's ability to support a growing EV owner population. Eleven metrics were weighted to determine the ranking list—including financial incentives, number of public charging stations, cost to charge an EV versus its gas-powered alternative and more. 

"Americans are becoming more interested in what they can do personally to help the environment, and one way many drivers are doing that is by switching to electric vehicles," said Julianne Ohlander, a data analyst at Bumper. "For those who may be on the fence about making the switch, this study is a great resource to compare how their state supports EV owners versus other states around the country."

The top 10 states to own an electric car

 
Rank State Score
1 Maryland 14.65
2 New York 15.25
3 Massachusetts 17.10
4 Pennsylvania 17.45
5 Vermont 17.95
6 New Jersey 18.00
7 California 18.35
8 Virginia 18.90
9 Utah 19.25
10 Rhode Island 19.60

Scores are based on a state's overall rank across each of the eleven measured metrics—the lower the score, the better a state's ranking.

See the full list here; category winners can be found below.

Key takeaways:

  • Maryland is the best state overall for owning an electric vehicle; South Carolina is the worst. 
  • Maryland tops the charts for having the best financial incentives to own an EV; Arkansas comes in last.
  • Rhode Island is the state with the best EV infrastructure; Wisconsin has the worst. 
  • Nevada has the highest cost savings per 1,000 miles for EV drivers compared to gas-powered drivers; Connecticut has the lowest.

Category winners

Infrastructure

 
Rank State
1 Rhode Island
2 Massachusetts
3 Utah
4 Vermont
5 California

Financial Incentives

 
Rank State
1 Maryland
2 New Jersey
3 New York
4 Pennsylvania
5 Virginia

Average EV price relative to median income

 
Rank State
1 Maryland
2 New Jersey
3 Massachusetts
4 Hawaii
5 Connecticut

Methodology

Bumper.com ranked financial incentives by six metrics:

  • Change in average gas price from August 2021 to August 2022;
  • Five-year change in recharge cost per 1,000 miles;
  • Cost difference to drive 1,000 miles by EV versus gas-powered cars;
  • Percent of workers commuting more than 30 minutes to work;
  • Current number of non-expired state financial incentives to switch to electric vehicles; and
  • Average current transaction price of a new electric vehicle relative to state median income.

We ranked infrastructure incentives by five metrics: 

  • Number of public charging stations per state licensed driver;
  • Number of public EVSE ports per 100 EV registrations;
  • State annual growth rate of electric charging stations since 2018;
  • EV registrations per 1,000 motor vehicle registrations; and
  • 2022 state allocations for the Electric Vehicle Charger Network, part of the November Bipartisan Infrastructure law, per licensed driver.

About Bumper

Bumper.com's mission is simple: make the car-owning, buying and selling experience better and more affordable through vehicle history reports for one low cost. Membership also unlocks access to reliable information on accidents, recalls, market value and easy-to-use tools available online or through the Bumper.com mobile app. Follow Bumper.com on TikTokInstagramYouTubeFacebookTwitter or follow their blog for content related to car maintenancecar selling, and car cleaning. For partnership inquiries, email partners@bumper.com.

Media Contact:

Kerry Sherin

Erin Kemp

press@bumper.com

Source: Bumper.com