A shiny new EV in the driveway doesn’t mean much if you can’t count on a place to plug it in. Across the U.S., charging stations are multiplying, but apparently not fast enough. The latest analysis shows that only Delaware and Washington, D.C. currently provide a network robust enough to keep pace with rising electric demand, leaving the rest of the country struggling to catch up.

New research paints a picture of progress, but also of gaps wide enough to slow adoption

The Index weighs four factors: how far drivers have to go to find a charger, how fast that charger delivers power, how many EVs are on the road compared to gasoline cars, and how likely it is to find an open plug.

Out of all 50 states plus Washington, D.C., only Delaware and the District itself earn top marks for covering today’s EV needs. Every other state falls short

The rankings show a growing divide.

Delaware and D.C. stayed at the top but saw slight drops in their scores over previous marks, with declining average charging speeds and tighter charger-to-EV ratios.

Meanwhile, New Jersey and New York surged into the top five. Together with Massachusetts, they form what researchers describe as an emerging East Coast EV corridor. For many drivers in that region, finding an open charger is less of a hassle than in most of the country.

Elsewhere, improvements are happening but unevenly

Kentucky jumped nearly 20 spots thanks to better charging speeds and a stronger charger-to-vehicle ratio.

New Mexico and Iowa rose sharply after hundreds of new public chargers went live.

States like Alaska, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina didn’t dominate the rankings but scored points for balance, with steady progress across all metrics rather than peaks in one area.

Nationally, the U.S. added 37,000 new EV charging points over the past year, a 19% increase

That’s a sign of momentum, but apparently not enough to ease public doubt.

In the companion survey of 2,000 drivers, more than half of Americans said charging access is their biggest barrier to buying an EV. Nearly six in ten said they expect to buy a gasoline car next, and fewer than a quarter believe EVs will make up the majority of new sales by 2030.

Global context doesn’t flatter the U.S. either

Europe added 245,000 chargers in the same period (more than the U.S. has in total) and leads in both charger density and fleet share. Still, even Europe shows uneven growth depending on income levels and policy strength.

These findings come from the 3rd annual EV Index by HERE Technologies and SBD Automotive. The report underscores a simple truth: the ease of charging matters as much as the availability of cheap, reliable EVs.

Without faster, denser networks, many American drivers will keep waiting for the infrastructure to catch up before making the switch.