How To Find EV Charging Stations In 2024
INCLUDING free electric charging stations, Tesla charging stations and electric car charging stations maps
Finding Electric Vehicle Charging Stations
EV charging stations can be found in many locations — from major shopping centers to street corners to workplaces to courthouses.
Most of the more than 140,000 electric vehicle charging stations are open to the public – even some in the driveways of private homes.
Even more are coming soon thanks to the $5 billion in federal funds being spent on building a network of over 500,000 EV chargers through the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program.
Many public chargers allow charging at no cost, and others require payment.
Find the best locations to charge your EV (including the free ones!) with the tools below and enjoy not breathing in gas station fumes when you get there!
Haven’t Made The Switch to An EV Yet?
EV batteries are cleaner than gas-powered cars plus electricity as a fuel is cheaper than gasoline across the US.
Calculate how much you can save by switching from gas to electric.
The 3 Best Mobile Applications To Find EV Charging Stations Near You
When you need to find a charger along your route (including the stations that are free), use one of our nonprofit's recommended 3 apps.
All three are available on the web or on iPhone and Android phones.
PlugShare
PlugShare Could Be Your “Go-to” EV Charging App
If you want one app to find electric car charging stations, PlugShare is user-friendly, has excellent filters and covers more than 140,000 charging stations. 7 in 10 US EV owners reportedly have this app downloaded.
The more than 300,000 monthly global users contribute to keeping the app information up to date, similar to Waze’s community.
ChargePoint
ChargePoint Offers a Large Listing of EV Charging Stations
ChargePoint is one of the main EV charging providers.
It has a large listing of electric charging stations and is well designed.
It’s worth downloading as well – especially to check it against Plugshare for your most common routes.
Electrify America
Electrify America Focuses on a Level 3 Fast Chargers Map
If you’re hunting for fast chargers, this is another great app to have on your phone.
After Tesla, Electrify America has the largest network of fast EV chargers in America - and they are expanding quickly.
They will have luxury stations soon too.
How To Use PlugShare
Read our nonprofit's tips for using PlugShare, a recommended go-to EV charging app.
1. Start with their electric car charging stations map.
You can also view availability, photos, reviews and tips.
2. Create your filter
Filter by your vehicle type or filter by which chargers are free.
There are tutorials for electric car drivers about how to charge and which chargers work with their specific car.
3. Check how to organize your trip and pay via the app at certain locations too.
Green locations are Level 2 chargers that typically provide about 25 miles of range per hour. These are useful when you want to add to your range while shopping or having a meal. Orange locations are DC Fast Chargers (“Level 3”) that typically take around 30 minutes to achieve an 80% charge. Fast Charging is typically more expensive than Level 2 charging.
Note that EVs can charge quickly up to about an 80% charge, and then take longer to charge beyond that. For most drivers, on road trips it is more time efficient to only charge to 80%, and to run down the battery as low as possible before charging up.
Download the Ultimate EV Home Charging Cheat Sheet
We put together this free cheat sheet to help people learn about EV charging and how to purchase the right home charger. Simply enter your email to access the cheat sheet as well as sign up for other EV news and inspiration delivered straight to your inbox.
The EV Home Charging Cheat Sheet is brought to you completely free of charge by Coltura, an award-winning nonprofit.
How To Find Free EV Charging Stations
Charging EVs is already less expensive than filling up a gas car and you can even charge for free in some locations.
Have you ever seen free gasoline?
How To Charge Your EV For Free
Some electric vehicle purchases come with as much as 3 years of free fast charging. Check if your vehicle qualifies.
A number of apps, including Plugshare, ChargePoint and ChargeHub let you filter by price to look for free chargers. You can filter by price with “free” or “$0” as an option to find an EV charging station free of charge.
Plugshare also has an excellent map for finding free EV charging stations (pictured right).
Finding Discounted EV Charging
Sometimes a free charge isn’t possible nor feasible. If you’re still hunting for a deal, you can look for discounts with monthly subscriptions - especially if you frequent particular charging locations.
- Electrify America’s Pass Plus is a monthly subscription that can save you on their network of chargers.
- EVgo has a monthly subscription that works in a similar way.
- There is a free membership from Blink that could save 20% at their locations.
Looking to save money on purchasing or leasing an EV in 2024?
Our nonprofit collected some of the best resources on purchasing/leasing an EV in 2024 and put them into an easy-to-use cheat sheet.
Simply enter your email to access the Purchasing An EV Cheat Sheet as well as sign up for other EV news and inspiration delivered straight to your inbox.
Electric Car Charging Stations for Tesla
You can use onboard navigation to find Supercharger stations or use the apps above to search for charging stations. Using apps can also help avoid any Supercharger outlets that aren’t operational or have long wait times.
A great aspect of charging your Tesla is that the chargers recognize your car and can bill you automatically.
Alternative Ways to Find EV Charging Stations
You should be able to find a charging station with the 3 apps listed above.
If you’d like to do a deeper dive, here are a few alternatives:
Alternative Fueling Stations
The US Department of Energy runs this mapping app. It may not end up being your go-to app, but it can be valuable to have downloaded.
Use Alternative Fueling Stations
Finding EV Charging Stations With Google Maps and Waze
You might have some luck searching for stations on Google Maps or looking for EV charging stations with Waze, but their listings are limited.
EVgo
EVgo, owner of the 3rd largest fast-charging network, can let you reserve a spot later in the day.
ChargeHub
ChargeHub might be worth using as well. It shows availability information for a large number of chargers in the U.S. Its Passport functionality allows you to activate thousands of chargers so you can turn on and pay in-app.
Public EV Charging Tips
What type of EV charger do you need?
When searching for a station, first understand where your particular make and model EV can charge. Different EVs have different plugs and can have limitations on which stations they can use. Most apps, including Plugshare allow you to add your vehicle when searching for the right charger.
Should you use a Level 2 or Level 3 charger (DC Fast Charger)?
Most likely, you’ll want to charge at a Level 3 charging station unless you only need a small top-up or can leave your car charging for hours at a time.
How long will it take to charge?
This is an important question and can affect what you do while charging - will you wait in your car or do you have time to go shopping or grab a bite. In addition to the difference in charting times between Llevel 2 and Level 3 chargers, different cars charge faster than others. Use this guide as a rule of thumb, but it can be helpful to time how fast yours charges on a Level 3 fast charger.
Conclusion
We hope this helps you find EV stations where you need them.
We want drivers to displace as much gasoline as possible with cleaner electric miles, and hopefully you do, too. EVs are cheaper, better for our health and for our planet.
This is why our nonprofit is laser-focused on reducing gasoline use as quickly as possible.
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