California now has 48% more EV chargers than gasoline nozzles in the state | Hacker News Reader

California now has 48% more EV chargers than gasoline nozzles in the state

gov.ca.gov

9 pointshbcondo7147 comments

Has the number of gas stations begun dropping?

https://www.axios.com/2022/07/15/gas-stations-prices-closing

That's nice, but given the amount of time you have to sit plugged in to a charger compared to the amount of time you sit filling up, that number will need to be significantly larger. And that's ignoring the number of broken chargers vs. broken gas pumps out there...

Most people will charge at home [1] or at an employer parking lot, trivial to fully charge in ~4-5 hours at an EV charging station providing ~11kw (48A). Fast DC charging is primarily for long distance travel [2]. BYD is demonstrating ~250 miles of range charged in 5 minutes [3]. We are still somewhat early in an accelerating tech adoption curve, but we will get there shortly simply because of the force and momentum behind it. Batteries and power control technology are the future of light automotive.

[1] https://www.pewresearch.org/data-labs/2024/05/23/electric-ve...

[2] https://web.archive.org/web/20240204212406/https:/www.energy...

[3] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-03-18/faster-th... | https://archive.today/9oqmi

(25% of vehicles sold in 2024 in California [the world's fifth largest economy] were EVs, 50% of vehicles sold in 2024 in China were NEVs [EVs and PHEVs], with the battery electric cohort growing very rapidly)

Don’t forget that many people can charge at home. If you’re not a super-commuter any outlet will do.

We got a reminder of this the year before last when visiting a relative in South Florida after flooding had taken out the regional gas supply. People with ICE vehicles were delaying trips, the handful of stations with any fuel had two hour lines, and the EV chargers didn’t even have lines because anyone with a garage or powered carport doesn’t need them.

> Don’t forget that many people can charge at home.

While I'm sure the charge-at-home number isn't insignificant... I wonder what it really is.

In other words, the percentage of Californian cars that have their own garages/carports. (As opposed to street parking or a spot with no power.)

> after flooding had taken out the regional gas supply

I personally had the reverse recently: Places without power for 5 days, and long lines of stricken EVs at rare working charging stations.

Perhaps that's an argument for ensuring any home emergency generator one gets can charge an EV, not just keep the contents of a refrigerator safe.

I’m not sure where in California you’ve lived but I had exactly one place where there was no power available. I’m quite aware that many people do, but it’s still the case that if all of the people who could charge at home did so you’d effectively remove millions of people from the public charger equation and making the problem that much easier.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com