The state of EV charging in America: Harvard research shows chargers 78% reliable and pricing like the ‘Wild West’ | Institute for Business in Global Society

A Harvard Business School study led by Omar Asensio reveals a significant obstacle to increasing electric vehicle ( EV ) sales and decreasing carbon emissions in the United States .

The research is based on a first -ever examination of more than 1 million charging station reviews by EV drivers across North America , Europe , and Asia .

The study’s main findings, discovered using customized artificial intelligence ( AI ) models trained on EV review data, are that charging stations in the U.S. have an average reliability score of only 78% ..

EV drivers often find broken equipment, making charging unreliable at best.

Public charging stations are not equally distributed across the U.S. , concentrated more heavily in large population centers and wealthy communities.

Some parts of the country have become “charging deserts,” with no station at all.

California , Florida , Texas have the most public chargers, but places are left behind.

Research shows that small urban centers and rural areas attract fewer public charging stations.

In some cases, there are “charging deserts” with no facilities at all.

Policymakers, auto manufacturers, entrepreneurs, and investors need more data to build infrastructure where it’s needed.