Contrary to the doom and gloom headlines about EVs, suburban drivers are loving their eco-friendly rides. No trips to the gas station? Sounds great. Cleaner air for their children and grandchildren? Very important.
Suburbanites are leading America's EV revolution, not the urban, youthful counterculture we tend to associate with social change. Early adopters are primarily wealthy, single-family homeowners who can power up on private chargers versus those in rental property garages. That's likely to continue: By 2030, 60% of EVs will be in suburbs compared to just 20% in cities and 20% in rural areas, according to the US Department of Energy (DOE). Electric Car Chargers
More emissions-free vehicles are always welcome—passenger transit makes up 16.5% of the nation's greenhouse gas emissions—but their suburban success misses the mark. EVs have more fuel economy in cities than on highways, the opposite of gas-powered cars. And they have just a third of the mechanical parts found on their gas-powered counterparts, meaning they can be built smaller and cheaper.
Ideally, this would lead to a world where densely populated areas are full of small, easy-to-park vehicles driven by people of all income brackets. But for now, EVs are stuck in the suburbs thanks to public charging limitations and a car culture where bigger means better. And it's not clear if the US can solve either one.
By 2030, 92% of chargers nationwide will be in single-family homes, according to a June 2023 DOE report. Though the quiet proliferation of private powerups is "invisible," it is "akin to the roots of a tree, as it is foundational to the rest of the system and an enabler for growth in more visible locations," such as those at office buildings, apartment complexes, and rest stops.
But "going forward, there is uncertainty around how effectively home charging can scale as the primary charging location," the DOE says. There's no easy way for people like me who live in rented apartments to simulate that ideal experience. My options are to either dangle a cord off my third-floor balcony—hoping I don't get evicted and a vandal doesn't cut it—or to use public chargers. Shocker: The DOE recommends the latter, but public-charging options in urban areas are often limited and unpleasant.
Competition for stations means urban drivers often have to wait in long lines, sometimes adding up to 20 minutes to an already-lengthy charging session. Fast chargers speed it up, but they are often just as expensive as fueling up a gas tank, whereas charging at home runs cheaper. Even Tesla opening its Supercharger network to the public isn't yet a silver bullet for urban drivers; the company blocks access for non-Teslas at almost all stations in the nation's largest cities.
Before relegating EVs to the 'burbs, the US can learn from countries with higher EV adoption. In China, EVs make up around 25% of new cars compared to 8% in the US. There, millions of people, many young, drive the $6,400 Wuling Mini EV, Car News China reports. Even though it only has a 133-mile range, the ultra-low price makes it easier to rationalize.
In Europe, where EV adoption is triple that of the US on average, the tiny, $6,600 Citroen Ami offers an easy-to-park electric option for commuters. Even though it only has a mere 43-mile range, it's "an entirely loveable object" and "better than cycling in a downpour," says TopGear UK.
These small, affordable options don't exist for American drivers. The closest comparison is the electric Mini Cooper, with a 114-mile range and $31,000 starting price. This year, the Fiat 500e comes to the US, with a 162-mile range and $34,095 starting price. It's unlikely to go far; larger EVs like the Hyundai Kona Electric or Volvo EX30 cost the same with ranges around 275 miles.
When it comes to charging in urban areas, Europe has a few tricks the US hasn't embraced yet, such as converting existing light poles to charging stations. They're BYOC (bring your own cord); drivers pull up and plug in with their own equipment.
"I wish Americans could go see what it's like in Europe," a Porsche spokesman told me at the NY Auto Show last month.
In Norway, EV adoption is around 80%, making it the country with the most EVs per capita and the most chargers per EV. To help apartment dwellers charge at home, housing associations can apply for grants that subsidize the cost of installing communal chargers by up to 50%. The Norwegian government also made it a law that parking garages must have "basic infrastructure, like having electricity available," Petter Haugneland, assistant general secretary of the Norwegian EV Association, tells Fast Company.
Creating small, efficient EVs that can reliably charge in a city is a complex problem, with three defining challenges. First, we have to change the culture to make small vehicles "cool." Second, we need cheaper batteries that make EVs affordable (smaller ones overall would cut the cost, too). And third, we have to figure out how to charge them in dense areas.
The first two are not looking good. Tesla has reportedly scrapped its long-promised plans to make a smaller, more affordable EV due to its inability to compete with China, according to Reuters, though it will continue building them for commercial robotaxis. (Tesla CEO Elon Musk has pushed back on the story.)
GM and Honda also dropped plans to co-develop sub-$25,000 EVs until we have cheaper, better battery technology that can meet US drivers' expectations.
Even if small, affordable EVs were possible, Americans are unlikely to go for them. "I thought we'd see a lot more variety in the way cars looked when EV platforms [became popular] because you have a lot more freedom," Mark Gillies, director of Volkswagen PR, told me at the Chicago Auto Show.
EV reps echoed his sentiments across the convention center, where the Cadillac team gave me a first look at the 2025 electric Escalade. GM added size to the front of the vehicle to make it more imposing. "People associate that big size with luxury, and we wanted it to be a premium vehicle," GM said. So, it plopped in a giant "frunk," which may not get regular use, instead of redesigning it with a shorter nose and slimmer profile.
Since smaller, more affordable vehicles are pretty squarely out of fashion in the US, perhaps there's more juice to squeeze on the third task: Figuring out urban charging. I'd like to see automakers offer charging incentives specifically tailored to city drivers. Instead, they seem to largely ignore this segment.
Startups are working on some compelling solutions, however. New software makes it easier for landlords to allocate the costs of a shared charger to the appropriate tenant and to keep non-tenants away. EV Safe Charge's Ziggy, for example, is an autonomous mobile charger that zooms around parking lots to give vehicles a power boost. But technologies remain on the fringe or in development.
Lawmakers are also taking note. In EV-heavy San Francisco, drivers laying cords over walkways were a liability, so the city launched a sidewalk-charging station initiative, SFGate reports. Chicago passed a bill requiring newly constructed rental units to have EV chargers, but that will likely take decades to meaningfully materialize as units turn over.
As stubborn cultural and infrastructure issues loom over the future of EV adoption in the US, the suburbs will keep the EV revolution going. They prove that when charging is easy and available, and the driver considers the vehicle affordable, people love EVs.
Suburbanites who see more and more EVs around town, particularly in the Northeast and on the West Coast, may be mulling a purchase themselves. Perhaps a Ford Mustang Mach-E could be a sporty addition to the garage, or the 7-seat Kia EV9 might make carpools and grocery pick-ups more fun and economical? The kids are even riding electric school buses, a major step toward cleaner air for future generations, who will hopefully be able to more easily own an EV in the city when they're older.
Prior to starting at PCMag, I worked in Big Tech on the West Coast for six years. From that time, I got an up-close view of how software engineering teams work, how good products are launched, and the way business strategies shift over time. After I’d had my fill, I changed course and enrolled in a master’s program for journalism at Northwestern University in Chicago. I'm now a reporter with a focus on electric vehicles and artificial intelligence.
I like to survey the market by trying out products from different brands. Right now, I have a Microsoft Surface laptop, an Amazon Echo for jamming out in my …
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