EV Chargers Now Outnumber Gas Pumps by Nearly 50% in California

There are now 48 percent more EV charging stations than there are gas pumps in the state of California according to a news release from governor Gavin Newsom’s office, reported by Inside EVs. The release says that the California Energy Commission estimates that the state has about 120,000 gas nozzles compared to 178,000 public and shared private chargers. Much of that growth is very recent: the number of chargers doubled in 2024 alone.

In the report for Inside EVs, Patrick George notes that the utility of the chargers differs from the nozzles due to the specifics:

“Officials with the governor's office say that the vast majority of chargers—162,000 out of 178,000—are slower Level 2 chargers. Only about 17,000 are DC public fast chargers, which are the closest analog to a gas station in the EV world. However, as we've reported at InsideEVs previously, DC fast-charging is most ideal for road trips, range-boosts during longer driving stints or for folks without easy home charging access. Across the U.S., the vast majority of EV drivers charge at home.”