Examining racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in access to California’s electric vehicle charging infrastructure

Equitable access to electric vehicle charging infrastructure is critical to ensuring a rapid, widespread, and inclusive transition to clean transportation. Here, we evaluate disparities in electric vehicle charging access across California by race, ethnicity, income, housing status, and environmental vulnerability. We use spatially granular synthetic population data and develop competition-adjusted access metrics for Level 2 and direct current fast chargers using isochrone analysis. We show clear disparities: Black and Hispanic Californians, especially those in majority Black and Hispanic (respectively) neighborhoods, have significantly lower access to charging than white residents. These gaps are wider in dense urban areas and among renters and people living in multifamily housing. Achieving a just transition requires that public and private investment in charging infrastructure account for racial/ethnic and housing equity. Robust analytic methods are therefore essential for effective planning and policy design.