Electric vehicles offer great potential to dramatically reduce local air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and resulting climate change impacts, and oil use from the transport sector. With electric vehicle costs steadily falling, the transition continues to become more feasible. This potential is enabled and made compelling by the ubiquity of electricity and the growing availability of low-carbon, renewable energy sources. Yet there are unanswered questions about the deployment of electric vehicle charging infrastructure and the associated policy that will need to be addressed to help pave the way for electrification.

This report provides a global assessment of charging infrastructure deployment practices, challenges, and emerging best practices in major electric vehicle markets, with an emphasis on public charging facilities. Although most early adopters charge their vehicles at home, public charging is an important part of the electric vehicle ecosystem. We analyze public charging infrastructure in the top electric vehicle markets globally, including a statistical analysis of the relationship between public charging and electric vehicle uptake. Our analysis is at the metropolitan-area level to better discern local infrastructure variation, practices, and circumstances.