Electric Vehicle Charging
The greenhouse gas emission reduction benefits of electric vehicles are significant, especially if those vehicles are charging on a lower-emission electricity grid.
However, all those EVs will need somewhere to charge. An electric vehicle charging study from the Oregon Department of Transportation found that by 2025, Oregon will need five times the number of public charging ports the state had in 2020. By 2035, that number balloons to over 40 times the 2020 numbers. (Note: a single EV charging station may have multiple charging ports.)
The majority of current EV owners charge at home. But many people live in places where it would be harder to charge at home, like apartment complexes. Those people will need at-home charging options, too, in addition to public EV charging.
Electric vehicle charging: emissions reduction vision
Oregon’s EV charging network will have enough chargers to support the growing number of electric cars, trucks and SUVs.
o Public EV chargers will be plentiful and easy to access at businesses, shopping areas, tourist destinations, freight corridors, and other high-traffic public areas.
o Private investment will build EV charging for commercial fleet purposes.
New residential buildings like apartments will have capacity and infrastructure for EV charging built-in as part of the construction.
Oregon’s network of public EV chargers will serve the unique needs of rural, urban and underserved communities.
How Oregon is doing
As of October 2022, Oregon had about 2,200 public EV chargers statewide.
The state is a little behind on goals of enough chargers to support Oregon’s growing population of electric cars, trucks and SUVs. Charging station uptime is an issue, too. EV drivers say they struggle to find reliable chargers outside of larger cities and along some popular roads.
The state also needs more charging infrastructure for other types of electric vehicles like e-scooters, e-bikes, delivery vans and larger trucks. Reliability for these stations will be important, too.
The Oregon Department of Transportation doesn’t own, operate or install public charging infrastructure, but the agency is helping on the funding side. In 2022 ODOT committed $100 million to build out electric vehicle charging infrastructure in the next five years. Two-thirds of the funding comes from the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and is focused on doubling the number of fast charging ports along Oregon’s major highways and interstates.
Seven million dollars will support a rebate program for building chargers in low-income areas, rural communities, disadvantaged communities, and for larger vehicles like long haul trucks and school buses. The program will be available in June 2023.
A project to upgrade charging stations on Oregon’ portion of the West Coast Electric Highway will also wrap up in 2023.
How Oregon can improve
The number of EVs on Oregon’s roads is expected to grow over the next two decades, and ODOT needs to keep up with that growth — and encourage an accelerated pace — by continuing to invest in public charging infrastructure.
EV charging companies, Oregon electric utilities, and local transportation agencies should continue to invest in public chargers, using data and other insights from ODOT studies and outreach.
Electric utilities will follow strategies to manage increased demand on Oregon’s electricity grid as more people in Oregon buy EVs. The Oregon Department of Energy biennially reviews the efforts electric utilities are taking to prepare for increasing numbers of EVs charging on the grid.
ODOT can provide tools and resources to support local governments in locating and planning for public EV chargers in their communities.