EV Charging Accessibility: Are We Designing for Everyone?
Raghav Bharadwaj
Chief Executive Officer
Electric vehicles are surging into the mainstream, but the growth of charging infrastructure hasn’t reached everyone equally. As of 2025, there are over 5 million public EV charging points worldwide, a number that doubled since 2022. Yet this global total hides stark disparities. China alone accounts for 65% of these chargers (with 2.7 million stations), while entire regions remain underserved. India, for instance, has roughly 26,000 public chargers for its rapidly growing EV fleet, concentrated mostly in a few urban hubs. These gaps raise critical questions about whether our EV charging network is truly being designed for everyone.
This blog explores three key questions at the heart of EV charging accessibility:
- Are EV chargers being built where people actually need them?
- Is charging equally easy and affordable for all drivers?
- What will it take to make EV charging truly universal and inclusive?
By examining infrastructure data and on-the-ground realities, from urban-rural divides to costs and policy interventions, we can assess how inclusive today’s charging ecosystem is and what changes are needed to ensure every EV driver benefits.
Are EV Chargers Being Built Where People Actually Need Them?
Despite the impressive growth in charger numbers, their distribution often fails to align with where drivers need them most. Globally, deployment has been heavily skewed toward a few countries and cities.
These imbalances also appear within countries, especially between urban and rural areas. In Europe, major cities tend to be well equipped. For example, Amsterdam and other Dutch cities have dense charger networks to serve residents of apartment buildings that lack private parking.
In such cities, there are fewer than 10 electric cars per public charging point (better than national averages), reflecting an effort to prioritize urban charging access. By contrast, rural regions lag behind.
Norway provides a telling example: while it aggressively installed fast chargers every 50 km along highways (achieving approx. 75% highway coverage by end-2024), rural charger density off the main roads remains far thinner than in Oslo or Bergen.
In the United States, a similar pattern emerges. Coastal states like California and New York host a large share of chargers, whereas the central and rural states have comparatively few. Only 35% of US interstate highways had fast chargers every 50 km in 2024 (versus 75% in Europe), with some Midwestern and Great Plains regions having coverage on just 20–30% of highways.
A recent analysis found about 64% of Americans live within 2 miles of a public EV charger, meaning 36%, largely in less-populated and rural areas – do not. Access is clearly not uniform.
Where people live and park has a huge impact on charging accessibility. In suburb and rural towns where single-family homes with garages are common, most EV owners can install home chargers and rarely need public stations.
But in dense urban areas and apartment complexes, home charging is often impossible, putting residents at the mercy of public infrastructure. In India, for example, a majority of urban dwellers live in multi-unit housing or communities without dedicated parking.
Similarly, in South Korea, one of the world’s most densely populated countries, limited home charging access has driven the highest public charging capacity per EV in the world. Even in countries with high EV adoption like Norway or the UK, surveys show 15–30% of EV owners living in apartments lack any home charging access.
These drivers need abundant public or shared chargers in residential areas. Some cities have started addressing this by installing curbside chargers, but many places have not
Amsterdam is often cited as a best practice case: knowing that “residential and office buildings often have less private parking,” the city proactively built thousands of curbside and garage chargers to serve apartment dwellers and commuters. Elsewhere, apartment EV owners rely on workplace charging or public stations, which may be inconveniently located or crowded.
Another challenge is ensuring chargers are available where drivers travel, not just where they live. Early EV infrastructure focused heavily on cities and a few highways, but long-distance routes and remote areas still have gaps.
As of 2024, Europe’s main corridors (Trans-European Networks) were well covered, over 75% of highways had fast chargers every 50 km, thanks to both market-driven rollout and new regulations. The EU’s Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR) will soon mandate at least one 150 kW station every 60 km on major roads by 2025, locking in comprehensive coverage.
The United States is catching up via federal programs, but rural communities and secondary highways often lack charging options, contributing to “charging deserts” that deter EV uptake beyond urban centers.
Even where public chargers exist, they may not be truly accessible. Up to 20% of Europe’s “public” chargers are actually semi-public, for example, in hotel parking lots or gated office campuses where only certain users can enter. Limited hours, membership requirements, or physical barriers degrade effective availability of charging.
Many drivers have pulled up to a “public” charger only to find it behind a paywall or closed after business hours. Standardization and openness are improving, but still uneven. Furthermore, chargers must be operational and user-friendly: a broken station or one requiring half a dozen smartphone apps can be as bad as none at all.
These issues blend into the next question of ease and equity.
Is Charging Equally Easy and Affordable for All Drivers?
Charging an EV should be as effortless and fair as filling a gas tank, but for many drivers that’s not yet the case. Ease and cost of charging can vary dramatically based on a driver’s living situation and location.
The most convenient and cheapest way to charge – at home overnight – is only an option for those with a private driveway or garage. Indeed, more than 80% of EV charging globally happens at home today. This creates an inherent inequality: drivers who are homeowners (often higher-income) reap the benefits of low-cost, easy overnight charging, whereas renters and apartment dwellers must seek out public chargers and often pay higher rates.
A US study showed that homeowners are three times more likely than renters to own an EV, even after controlling for income, highlighting how critical home charging access is. In other words, the charging gap is contributing to an “EV privilege” for certain demographics.
Apartment residents without on-site chargers rely on public infrastructure that might be several blocks away or at busy hubs, a far cry from the ease of plugging in at one’s doorstep.
Beyond convenience, charging costs can hit different drivers’ wallets in unequal ways. Those who charge primarily at home benefit from residential electricity tariffs that, in many countries, make driving on electricity significantly cheaper per mile than driving on gasoline.
For instance, charging at home in Europe can cost half as much as fueling a comparable petrol car on a per-mile basis under today’s energy prices. In India, many states offer special EV tariffs or even allow home/business charging on existing connections at low rates. However, drivers who cannot charge at home frequently turn to public fast chargers, which often charge premium prices. Fast-charging on the road can erode or even eliminate the fuel-cost savings of EVs.
A report by Car and Driver found that while home charging an efficient EV can cost as little as one-third the price of gasoline for 100 miles, using commercial DC fast chargers for that same distance can be as expensive or pricier than gasoline.
Many US fast-charging networks price energy at $0.30–$0.50 per kWh, translating to roughly $10–$15 per “fill-up” of 100 miles – similar to what a gasoline car would cost for the same distance.
In Europe, public charging rates of €0.60–€0.80/kWh have been reported during peak hours, approaching parity with diesel cost per km. Thus, an EV owner without home or workplace charging (often an apartment dweller or lower-income driver) might pay more per mile than a wealthier homeowner charging cheaply overnight. This is an unintended inequity in the current system.
Charging affordability is not only about energy prices but also about upfront costs and knowledge. Setting up a home charger, if one has the option, can cost several hundred dollars (or more with electrical upgrades), which can be a barrier for moderate-income households.
Meanwhile, many drivers are not on optimal electricity plans, they might be unaware of cheaper nighttime EV tariffs or lack access to them. Governments have begun addressing this: India’s 2022-23 charging guidelines mandated that distribution companies offer a simple, single-part tariff for public charging (capped around the average cost of power) to prevent exorbitant demand charges, and even set ceiling prices for slow and fast charging. The guidelines also provided for reduced tariffs during solar hours (20% discount) to encourage daytime charging at lower cost.
These measures aim to keep public charging affordable and consistent. Not all regions have such controls, but they illustrate ways to avoid pricing EV fuel out of reach.
Beyond cost, ease of use remains a sticking point, especially when roaming across different charging networks. A truly easy charging experience means plugging in and charging without hurdles, but reality can involve app downloads, membership cards, varying plug types, and unreliable station uptime.
Technical incompatibilities can make charging a headache. For example, a driver of a CHAdeMO plug EV might find only CCS plugs at a station, or a Tesla Supercharger might have been (until recently) exclusive to Tesla vehicles. Payment systems are another barrier – some stations require RFID membership cards or specific apps instead of simple credit card taps, which can confuse new users.
These technical and logistical barriers reduce overall accessibility.
The good news is that industry trends are towards more open networks and standardized systems. Connector compatibility is improving, CCS becoming dominant in many markets, and Tesla has begun opening its network adapters. Some regions are also mandating uniform payment access. For instance, the EU now requires all fast chargers to accept ad-hoc payments (such as contactless credit cards) without a subscription.
Still, as of 2025, the user experience remains inconsistent. A driver in California might seamlessly use a Tesla or Electrify America station with a single app, while a driver in India or Europe might need to juggle multiple apps to access different provider networks. This fragmentation disproportionately affects those who are less tech-savvy or frequently travel off the beaten path.
What about drivers of commercial fleets and special use cases? Here, accessibility issues take on a different dimension. Fleet operators such as electric taxi services, delivery vans, or rideshare drivers require reliable, high-throughput charging at depots or strategic locations. In cities with limited fast charging infrastructure, an electric taxi driver might spend too much time waiting to charge, directly impacting their earnings. In this context, charging access becomes an economic equity issue.
Heavy commercial vehicles like trucks face even greater challenges. They need ultra-high-power chargers (often 350 kW or more) and ample space to maneuver. Currently, such infrastructure is scarce outside a few pilot corridors. A small trucking firm aiming to electrify its fleet may no public megawatt-level charging along regional routes, limiting adoption to those who can afford private depot installations. While upcoming infrastructure plans aim to address this gap, the reality today is that charging is far more accessible for passenger cars in urban areas than for rural trucking companies or intercity bus operators.
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What Will It Take to Make EV Charging Truly Universal and Inclusive?
Achieving equitable EV charging by 2030 will require smart planning, public investment, supportive policies, and inclusive design. Fortunately, governments and industry players are already taking steps. Here are five key strategies emerging globally:
1. Strategic infrastructure deployment in underserved areas
A truly universal network means extending chargers beyond urban centers to highways, smaller towns, and rural regions.
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US NEVI program: In the United States, the federal government’s National EV Infrastructure (NEVI) program (part of the 2021 infrastructure law) has allocated $5 billion to build fast chargers along designated highway corridors. In addition, over $500 million in grants have been allocated to install thousands of chargers in local communities across 29 states – not just highways. These funds specifically target gaps in the network, including rural counties and economically disadvantaged areas, to ensure a baseline level of access.
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EU’s AFIR regulation: Europe’s AFIR mandates fast chargers every 60 km on major roads and sets minimum power capacity per EV, effectively pushing member states to install enough chargers proportional to their EV adoption, a mechanism to prevent some regions from falling behind in charger-to-EV ratio.
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China’s rural push: China after achieving breakneck EV sales growth, is now turning attention to infrastructure: it has announced plans for “full coverage in cities and on highways by 2030”, along with expanded charging networks in rural areas. This includes subsidies for charging stations in smaller cities and along trucking routes, so that EV uptake isn’t constrained to coastal megacities.
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India’s PM E-DRIVE: In India, the PM E-DRIVE scheme launched in late 2024 is funding 72,000 public charging stations by 2026 with a focus on urban centers and key transport corridors. If executed fully, this would roughly quadruple India’s public charging infrastructure in just a couple years, significantly filling the availability gap.
2. Integrating charging into urban planning and building codes
To support apartment dwellers and those without home chargers, governments are pushing to embed charging solutions into residential and commercial infrastructure by default.
The European Union has updated its Energy Performance of Buildings Directive to mandate “pre-cabling” for EV chargers in new buildings and major renovations. This means new apartments, offices, and shopping centers must be built EV-ready, preventing costly retrofits later and making it easier to install chargers for residents.
Some cities like London and New York have begun adding curbside chargers on residential streets and encouraging lamp-post chargers to serve cars parked on city streets overnight.
India’s 2024 revised guidelines explicitly call for including charging infrastructure in urban development plans and providing fast-track approvals for installing stations. They also set standards for battery swapping stations to ensure alternative charging models are available where plug-in charging is impractical. Making EV charging as routine as street parking or a gas station requires these kinds of planning measures so that chargers appear in residential complexes, malls, and workplaces as a matter of course.
3. Keeping charging affordable and grid-friendly
Universal charging must be accessible and sustainable. Policies to subsidize or cap the cost of charging can help lower-income drivers. Example, France and Germany have offered reduced electricity tax rates for public EV charging providers to keep prices moderate.
India, as noted, set ceiling tariffs for public chargers and even time-of-use pricing (discounts during solar hours) to encourage cheap charging when power is plentiful.
Utilities in states like California are experimenting with special EV charging rates that provide low-cost power at night for those who can’t get a dedicated home meter, effectively letting, say, an apartment EV owner charge at near-residential rates at public night-time chargers.
On the technology side, smart charging and load management are being deployed to control costs and improve reliability. By shifting more charging to off-peak times, grids can handle more EVs without expensive upgrades, and drivers benefit from lower rates.
Read more: EV Charging and Grid Stress: How Smart Chargers Can Balance the Load
4. Expanding charging options for fleets and heavy vehicles
To include commercial drivers and logistics operators in the EV revolution, tailored infrastructure is needed. Governments are now investing in high-power charging corridors for trucks and incentives for depot charging.
The US Department of Energy, for example, launched a “SuperTruck Charge” initiative in 2025, funding $68 million in projects to demonstrate megawatt-scale charging sites near ports and major freight corridors. These projects will build publicly accessible truck stops with multiple MCS (Megawatt Charging System) chargers and integrate on-site solar and storage to support the grid.
Europe’s AFIR requires dedicated heavy-duty vehicle charging stations every 120 km on core networks by 2030, with power outputs in the megawatt range to serve large trucks and buses.
In India, where electrification of buses and three-wheelers is a priority, there are pilot programs for swappable batteries in e-buses and the installation of chargers at bus depots under the PM E-DRIVE scheme.
By 2030, we should see dedicated “electric truck stops”, widespread depot charging support (with possibly tariff incentives for fleets), and perhaps shared charging hubs where multiple commercial operators can plug in. These developments will make electrification feasible for businesses, not just private car owners.
5. Embracing innovation and standardization
Interoperability is key to an inclusive charging ecosystem, meaning any EV should be able to use any public charger with ease.
More charging networks now use open systems and roaming deals, so one app can work across many charging stations. The Tesla Supercharger network is gradually opening some stations to non-Tesla EVs in Europe and North America, thanks to standard connector adoption and policy nudges.
Governments and organizations like the CharIN consortium are working on harmonizing standards for megawatt charging, payment systems, and data sharing. By 2030, we can expect a far more seamless user experience, where a driver doesn’t need to think about plug compatibility or whether they have the right app; the car and charger will communicate and handle authorization/payment in the background.
This kind of simplicity is crucial for EVs to be welcoming to everyone, including those who are not tech enthusiasts. In parallel, innovations like battery swapping and mobile charging services could complement the fixed charger network to fill accessibility gaps.
For example, rural areas with low EV density might see mobile charging vans or battery swap stations as interim solutions until demand grows for permanent stations. Renewable energy integration and energy storage at charging sites can also improve reliability and sustainability of the network, ensuring that even remote communities with weak grids can charge without blackouts.
Final Thoughts
EV charging has evolved from being a niche concern to becoming an essential infrastructure. However, it’s still a work in progress. To truly design for everyone, we must go beyond quantity and focus on equity, ensuring chargers are available, affordable and easy to use for all types of users, regardless of income, geography, or vehicle type.
By 2030, the goal globally is clear, charging should be as routine and inclusive as refueling, only cleaner; to live in a world where EV charging is no longer a privilege, but a public amenity available to everyone. If the private and public stakeholders stay the course, we’ll move from asking, “Are we designing charging for everyone?” to confidently answering "Yes".
