(EV) when ranked by number of EV charging stations per capita, gas cost savings, and federal or local financial incentives. Massachusetts, Vermont, and California are the best.

Louisiana, Kentucky, and Alaska have fewer than 10 EV charging ports per 100,000 people -- 10x less than Vermont.

Washington, Oregon, and Rhode Island EV drivers save over $4,800 on gas costs over the length of car ownership.

California, Massachusetts, and Maryland drivers can save $8,000 switching to EVs due to financial incentives offered by the local government. Kentucky, West Virginia, North Dakota, and Kansas drivers have no additional local incentives.

Many Americans dream of driving a Tesla, a Mustang Mach-E, or any one of the countless, cool electric vehicles that have entered the market in recent years. But individuals hesitate to purchase EVs because of sticker price, range anxiety, or charging port inaccessibility. New research by Jerry shows that purchasing and driving an EV can be a great financial and logistical decision but that’s highly dependent on where you live. Drivers in East or West Coast states like Massachusetts, Vermont, and California have numerous financial incentives to purchase EVs, and more access to charging ports. Drivers in Louisiana, Kentucky, and Idaho are not so lucky.

10 Best States to Own an EV

Rank	State
1	MA
2	VT
3	CA
4	HI
5	RI
6	CT
7	NY
8	ME
9	CO
10	MD

10 Worst States to Own an EV

Rank	State
30	AL
30	OK
31	WV
32	NE
33	MS
34	ND
35	AR
36	ID
37	KY
38	LA

The study ranked states based on three factors: EV charging port density, gas savings, and government incentives. East and West Coast States comprise 9 of the 10 best states to own an EV; Southern and Midwest states cover 9 of the 10 worst states to own an EV.

Region	# of public EVSE Ports	Population	Ports per 100,000	Cost per e gallon	Cost per gallon	Savings per gallon	# of incentives
AL	458	4903185	9.3	1.04	2.6	1.56	1
AK	67	731545	9.1	1.99	3.1	1.11	4
AZ	1939	7278717	26.6	1.11	3.1	1.99	3
AR	410	3017804	13.5	0.9	2.6	1.70	1
CA	34001	39512223	86.0	1.86	3.73	1.87	15
CO	3281	5,758,736	56.9	1.1	2.8	1.70	6
CT	1214	3,565,287	34.1	1.85	2.76	0.91	6
DE	261	973,764	26.8	1.14	2.9	1.76	5
FL	5590	21,477,737	26.0	1.08	2.83	1.75	5
GA	3722	10,617,423	35.1	0.98	2.72	1.74	4
HI	757	1,415,872	53.5	2.65	3.1	0.45	2
ID	261	1,787,065	14.6	0.9	2.84	1.94	3
IL	2247	12,671,821	17.7	1.12	2.76	1.64	4
IN	838	6,732,219	12.4	1.15	2.76	1.61	3
IA	517	3,155,070	16.4	1.03	2.76	1.73	4
KS	932	2,913,314	32.0	1.11	2.76	1.65	0
KY	403	4,467,673	9.0	0.96	2.76	1.80	0
LA	340	4,648,794	7.3	0.87	2.6	1.73	3
ME	537	1,344,212	39.9	1.5	2.76	1.26	2
MD	2781	6,045,680	46.0	1.16	2.9	1.74	10
MA	4072	6,892,503	59.1	1.96	2.74	0.78	12
MI	1644	9,986,857	16.5	1.5	2.76	1.26	4
MN	1220	5,639,632	21.6	1.17	2.75	1.58	8
MS	279	2,976,149	9.4	1.02	2.6	1.58	1
MO	2040	6,137,428	33.2	0.85	2.76	1.91	2
MT	203	1,068,778	19.0	1	2.84	1.84	2
NE	337	1,934,408	17.4	0.92	2.76	1.84	4
NV	1217	3,080,156	39.5	1.02	3.1	2.08	3
NH	304	1,359,711	22.4	1.7	2.76	1.06	1
NJ	1574	8,882,190	17.7	1.45	2.9	1.45	4
NM	387	2,096,829	18.5	1.12	2.6	1.48	2
NY	6454	19,453,561	33.2	1.66	2.83	1.17	8
NC	2212	10,488,084	21.1	0.96	2.72	1.76	4
ND	134	762,062	17.6	0.85	2.76	1.91	0
OH	1765	11,689,100	15.1	1.07	2.66	1.59	3
OK	972	3,956,971	24.6	0.81	2.76	1.95	3
OR	2094	4,217,737	49.6	0.99	3.1	2.11	6
PA	2423	12,801,989	18.9	1.2	2.9	1.70	5
RI	497	1,059,361	46.9	2.05	2.76	0.71	2
SC	744	5,148,714	14.5	1.07	2.72	1.65	1
SD	143	884,659	16.2	1.04	2.76	1.72	1
TN	1369	6,829,174	20.0	0.95	2.76	1.81	2
TX	4895	28,995,881	16.9	1.08	2.58	1.50	8
UT	1748	3,205,958	54.5	0.93	2.84	1.91	5
VT	836	623,989	134.0	1.73	2.76	1.03	8
VA	2497	8,535,519	29.2	1.02	2.72	1.70	4
WA	3774	7,614,893	49.6	0.89	3.13	2.24	6
WV	254	1,792,147	14.2	1.04	2.72	1.68	0
WI	867	5,822,434	14.9	1.32	2.76	1.44	10
WY	169	578,759	29.2	0.97	2.84	1.87	1

Charging Station Availability

EV charging port distribution varies significantly across states. Vermont and California top the list at 133 and 89 EV charging ports per 100,000 people. But there’s a significant drop from there. Maryland has the third-most EV charging ports at 59 ports per 100,000 people, but that is less than half the amount Vermont has. The bottom three states -- Alaska, Kentucky, and Louisiana -- have 8-9 charging ports per 100,000 people (0.009% charging station density).

Cost of Gas

EVs are good for your environment and your wallet. Drivers in Washington, Oregon, and Nevada save over $2 per gallon with an EV. That’s 47% savings for Washington, 43% savings for Oregon, and 40% savings for Nevada. Considering that the average American uses over 300 gallons of gasoline per year, drivers in Washington, Oregon, and Nevada could be saving over $600 a year if they make the switch to EVs. This is $4,800 over the average lifetime of car ownership. Even drivers in states like Hawaii and Rhode Island, which each save under a dollar per gallon of gas, can save a couple hundred dollars a year from the switch.

Incentives

State governments encourage EV adoption with various tax and subsidization incentives. And according to our study, California, Massachusetts, and Maryland have more than 10 local government incentives to support EV purchase and/or leasing. This includes EV purchase rebates of up to $7,500, charging port rebates, EV purchase income tax credits, electric charging cost rebates, and more. This is over 10 times the incentives that states like West Virginia, North Dakota, Kansas, Missouri, Wyoming, and more have -- which range from 0 to 1.

Currently, 46 states and Washington D.C. incentivize EV adoption. Consumer incentives include HOV lane exemptions, EV purchase rebates, vehicle inspections/emissions test exemption, parking incentives, utility rate reductions, and more. For example, utility providers often reduce EV charging prices during off-peak hours. This can save drivers hundreds of dollars per year. Tax credits and rebates often offer several thousand dollars in savings the year a driver purchases their EV. States also have business-facing incentives. For example, California, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, and nine other states require manufacturers to sell a certain amount of zero-emission vehicles per year.

EV Infrastructure Improving

EV infrastructure -- which refers to EV charging station accessibility and government incentives for EV adoption -- is getting better year after year. The Biden Infrastructure Bill wants to designate $7 billion to bettering EV infrastructure, and many states are upping investment in zero-emission vehicles with or without the extra aid. Car companies including Volkswagen, Ford, and Chevrolet are releasing better EVs with longer ranges and more features like smart parking.

So, is it finally time for you to get that EV you’ve been eyeing? If you consider the financial benefits of gas savings, rebates, and tax incentives, owning an EV is less expensive than most think. You could save $4,800 in gas costs over the length of car ownership (8 years on average). If you live in the right state, like California or Maryland, you could also save $5,000-8,000 on vehicle purchase price. Increased EV infrastructure investment means that more public charging ports will be available, and cities will offer more rebates and cost-lowering incentives to make EVs even more affordable. But before you make any decisions, check if your state or locality has financial incentives and check your gas prices -- you might be in for a pleasant surprise.