Kentucky at bottom of electric vehicle infrastructure ranks

Study shows that Kentucky ranks 49th among the 50 states

(Story Courtesy of Kentucky Today)

FRANKFORT, Ky. (KT) – While Kentucky may become the Electric Vehicle battery manufacturing capital of the United States, when it comes to EV infrastructure a recent study shows the state is currently ranked near the bottom.

In September 2021, Ford announced it was building two lithium-ion battery plants at Hardin County’s Glendale community, in partnership with SK Innovation. This past August, Envision AESC said it will build a plant at Bowling Green to produce battery cells and modules to power electric vehicles.

Other EV battery production-related companies have also revealed plans to locate facilities in Kentucky.

However, the state lacks an EV infrastructure to charge such vehicles, according to findings of a study released Tuesday by quotewizard.com, a vehicle insurance website.

The study shows that Kentucky ranks 49^th among the 50 states in a ranking of states with the best electric vehicle infrastructure, trailed only by Louisiana.

California ranks number one, where 3.81% of the vehicles are registered as electric. They have a rate of 10 alternative fueling stations per 10,000 vehicles, along with 28 charging outlets per 10,000 vehicles.

Vermont, whose EV adoption rate is 1.7%, owns the top ranking for alternative fueling stations and charging outlets per 10,000 vehicles, with 17 stations and 44 outlets, respectively.

Kentucky, by comparison, has 0.26% electric vehicle usage, with only 1 charging station and 3 outlets per 10,000 vehicles.

While Louisiana has the identical rate of charging stations and outlets per 10,000 vehicles as Kentucky (1 and 3), their EV usage rate is 0.24%, just low enough to hold the bottom ranking.

A complete breakdown of electric vehicle infrastructure, state and city interest in alternative fuel vehicles, and an in-depth guide on what you need to know about electric vehicles, among other information, is available at https://quotewizard.com/auto-insurance/electric-car-insurance.

A similar study in September by auto enthusiast website bumper.com, ranked Kentucky 45^th on their list of best states to own electric vehicles.

The number of charging stations should improve in the near future, as Gov. Andy Beshear announced in September that Kentucky received federal approval to develop a nearly $70 million electric vehicle charging network, with charging stations every 50 miles along interstate highways in the first phase, after getting the go-ahead from the Federal Highway Administration.

Federal funding for the first two years of the program will be provided to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet in the next few months. With $17 million in state matching funds approved by the General Assembly this year, a total of $86.9 million will be available for EV charging infrastructure over the next five years.

“Our goal is to have a statewide network of EV chargers by 2025,” said Transportation Cabinet Secretary Jim Gray. “Approval of our EV plan by the federal government now ensures Kentucky will receive $25 million in federal funds this year to begin to design and build that network, starting with our interstates and parkways.”

Federal funding has now been approved for all 50 states.