These are the most EV-friendly cities in the US

As fans of plug-in cars, it's a sad reality that it's less than practical for many of us to own them specifically because of where we live. Either the infrastructure is not there, or the fuel savings aren't worth the added cost without subsidies, or the driving range is inadequate for the distances we need to travel regularly. These limitations are in addition to unmet priorities like cargo volume, all-wheel-drive and other potential boxes the limited variety of current EV offerings leave unchecked.

As the rest of us work to improve our lot in life when it comes to potential EV ownership, we look to ~~California~~ other parts of the country that have made it easy to live with a plug-in vehicle. In this spirit, researchers at Indiana University's School of Public and Environmental Affairs have compiled a list of the cities they consider, according to their various criteria, to be favorable to ownership of a plug-in car.

So, without further ado, the ten most EV-ready cities in the US are as follows:

Portland, OR
Washington, DC
Baltimore, MD
New York, NY
Denver, CO
Los Angeles, CA
Atlanta, GA
Chicago, IL
Austin, TX
San Francisco, CA

You can see IU's full list of 36 cities below. And note that if you live in Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin or Wyoming - or in a "remote" part of one of the larger states, you can go kick rocks.

Well, for now anyway. (And if you live in an EV oasis not listed above, please sound off in the comments below.) IU's article was published in The Electricity Journal with the hopes of informing policymakers, potential buyers, and other researchers with valuable information about the state of EVs in the US, and how and where it can be improved. The authors conclude with what we already know: that as long as plug-in vehicles are more expensive, people will opt for the usual fossil fuel-powered cars unless there is a financial incentive to buy an EV as well as the infrastructure to support it. Of the top six cities, each has some sort of financial incentive to buy an electric car or install charging equipment. Four of them have more affordable nighttime electricity rates. Many on the list have a high density of public chargers, offer EV parking privileges or offer access to HOV lanes.

Let's hope that, for the rest of us who are eager for cleaner air and quieter cities, there's something to learn from the cities that embrace electric mobility.

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