By Jerod MacDonald-Evoy | Arizona Mirror
A newly released report by Pew Trusts found that Arizona ranks among the top 20 states for its number of charging stations for electric cars, but the state is still lagging on making infrastructure for them a priority.
Electric cars are growing in popularity and have seen an 81% increase in sales from 2017 to 2018, according to the Edison Electric Institute.
Arizona has more than 1,300 charging stations across the state, most in Maricopa County, where more than 60% of the state’s residents live.
Since 2011, Arizona Public Service has been creating annual reports on the number of charging stations in the state, the number of electric vehicles in the state and how the utility plans to handle electric vehicles as they become part of the electric grid.
In the most recent report authored in 2017, APS identified more than 3,700 electric vehicles operating in its service area.
“While the electric vehicle market is ramping up in Arizona, there has been a slower than expected deployment of public charging infrastructure,” the report states, adding that this has been in part due to industry woes.
