Billions to be invested and SC still among worst states for EV use? New report says yes. Here’s why
South Carolina is the 10th least friendly state for electric vehicles, a new report shows.
Members of the EV industry have announced billions of dollars-worth of investments in South Carolina in recent months, while state officials have pushed plans to improve electric vehicle adoption. However, a study from iSeeCars, an automotive search engine and research site, shows that the Palmetto State still has far to go before it can be considered a top state for EV drivers.
And why is South Carolina considered behind?
South Carolina still has far too few EV chargers for its residents compared to most other states, the study shows.
EV study results
According to the study, South Carolina had 1,054 total EV charging ports in 2022, meaning there was one charger for every 5,012 residents. The latest data from scpowersev.com, South Carolina’s virtual EV hub, shows there are currently 1,070 total EV charging ports — not enough of an increase to really move the needle in the report rankings.
Vermont was ranked as the most EV-friendly state with 920 total chargers, or one charger for every 703 residents.
Mississippi came in at the bottom of the list with 317 total chargers, or one for every 9,275 residents.
Here are the top 10 most and least EV-friendly states.
Methodology
For the study, iSeeCars used data from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuels Data Center through 2022 as of Feb. 8, 2023. The number of chargers was normalized by population counts from the U.S. Census Bureau and expressed as the number of residents per charger.
South Carolina EV expansion
Among the EV industry businesses that have announced billions of dollars in investments in South Carolina in recent months is BMW, which revealed a $1.7 billion investment to shift its Spartanburg facility toward building six electric vehicle models there by 2030.
Envison Automotive Energy Supply Co., a Japanese-based company, announced it will build an $810 million facility in Florence County to make battery cells for BMW.
And Redwood Materials in December announced it will build a $3.5 billion facility and generate 1,500 jobs in Berkeley County to recycle battery materials to be reused in electric vehicles. It’s the state’s largest single economic development deal.
Meanwhile Gov. Henry McMaster has worked with other state officials to try and grow EV adoption in the state by examining charging station expansion.
McMaster has tasked a group of state agencies to determine how many more charging stations are needed in the state and where to place them.
