When it comes to preparing for electric vehicles, a new report ranks Oklahoma 25 in the U.S.
The state is also doing much better according to a scorecard from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. It graded states on their progress of improving electrical infrastructure to handle the anticipated increase in the use of electric vehicles across the nation.
The most improved state by rank is Oklahoma, which moved up 10 spots, from being unranked (would have ranked 37th) in 2021 to now being ranked 27th stated the ACEEE.
It found that Oklahoma achieved this partly by having the highest number of DCFC chargers per capita in the country by a wide margin. This is to some extent due to a focus on DCFC charging and reducing range concerns by the state’s electric vehicle charging program, which is funded by a portion of the state’s VW settlement fund (Oklahoma DEQ 2022).
The ACEEE found the program is also investing heavily in electric school buses and has received funding from the federal Clean School Bus program to transition the highest percentage of their school bus fleet (18%) in 2022.
First place goes to California, which is the national leader in transportation electrification policy for the second Scorecard in a row. Rounding out the top 10 are New York, Colorado, Massachusetts, Vermont, Washington, New Jersey, the District of Columbia, Oregon, and Maryland. In addition to planning via these programs, the top 10 states were also particularly strong in transportation system efficiency (which assesses how
states are reducing overall emissions from the transportation sector, including by reducing personal vehicle usage) and electricity grid optimization.
These states are driving electrification with strong vehicle standards and planning for the impacts of electrification on the transportation and electricity sectors.