Equitable charging infrastructure for electric vehicles: access and experience

The shift toward electric vehicles (EVs) as a decarbonisation strategy in transportation raises important energy justice concerns, particularly regarding fair access to charging infrastructure. This perspective synthesizes evidence on how access to, and experience of, charging infrastructure may differ across socio-economic groups across North America. We present a framework for assessing charging infrastructure equity that includes: (i) accessibility—proximity, reliability, visibility, affordability; and (ii) user experiences—safety, payment ease, and co-located other services. The framework helps characterize the varied impacts across socio-demographic groups, including on low-income and marginalized communities. We explore how the direct and indirect effects of accessibility and user experience might influence the distribution and design of EV charging stations. Considerations of socio-economic diversity in the deployment of charging infrastructure are critical to ensure equitable benefits from electric mobility. We conclude that targeted actions from manufacturers, charging operators, and governments are needed to alleviate the disparities in access and experiences with public EV charging.


Introduction
Electrification of road transport is a key part of national and sub-national decarbonisation plans, as electric vehicles (EVs) have the potential to reduce CO 2 emissions compared to fossil-fuelled vehicles in most jurisdictions around the world-even at current electricity grid carbon intensities (Knobloch et al 2020).The transition to EVs, particularly in passenger vehicle markets, is being accelerated through policy such as purchase subsidies, and zero emissions vehicles mandates (e.g. in the European Union (European Commission 2023), Canada (Environment and Climate Change Canada 2022), and California (California Air Resources Board n.d.)).However, major barriers to EV adoption remain, including their high purchase price, a lower driving range, and a lack of widespread access to charging (Prakash and Dolsak 2021, Kim et al 2022, Javed et al 2024).The latter two barriers point to the need for improvements in the access to, and the quality of, charging infrastructure.Further, these barriers are disproportionately experienced by different populations (Hardman et al 2021, Khan et al 2022, Hopkins et al 2023).As Carlton and Sultana (2023, p 348) write, 'The main question of this transition then is likely not whether EVs will overtake conventional fuel vehicle sales and predominate across communities, but… rather an infrastructural one: will every community have the infrastructure that they need to benefit from the economic and environmental advantages of EVs, or will some communities get left behind in this transition?' The installation of charging infrastructure faces a 'chicken and egg problem' , where availability and accessibility of charging infrastructure are crucial for the widespread adoption of electric cars.The absence of public charging infrastructure can serve to discourage EV adoption, whereas the widespread availability of charging infrastructure increases consumers' willingness to pay for EVs (Hackbarth and Madlener 2013).In addition, the visible presence of public chargers can be very important for encouraging adoption (Bailey et al 2015).As Achtnicht (2012) show, increasing charger availability could increase EV demand; in their German sample, demand for EVs went up by almost 50% when the availability of chargers improved from 10% to 33%.On the flip side, the incentive to invest in building a network of charging stations relies on the demand generated by the number of electric cars on the road.This is reinforced by recent evidence that there is greater incentive for private firms to invest in public charging infrastructure where EV adoption is growing or predicted to grow.Evidence suggests that currently, with EVs comprising a small fraction of vehicles on the road, charging at home is almost entirely sufficient for charging needs.However, with greater EV adoption (up to 90% of the fleet), home charging may only be feasible for 35%-75% of charging needs.(Ge et al 2021).
Patterns of EV adoption are similar to those seen in other products with high capital costs where wealthier groups are more likely to be early adopters.Cheng et al (2019) show that socio-demographic variables such as income level, gender, age, and education level have a significant impact on travel behaviour.A study conducted on top 50 US cities found that White and Asian populations were over-represented in EV ownership data, while Black and Hispanic/Latino populations were consistently under-represented (Keith et al 2021).Early adopters of EVs have also tended to be multi-car households that have an ICEV which can be used when EV range may be insufficient for an intended trip (Axsen et al 2016).Further, initial adoption has been fuelled by positive values towards environment and technology, and less so by practical considerations (Illmann and Kluge 2020).
Early adopters of EVs have depended largely on private charging, at home or at workplaces, and not on public charging infrastructure (Illmann and Kluge 2020).Public charging is defined here as charging stations that do not have access constraints, such as being located inside gated institutions or requiring use of attached businesses, and are open for use by all EV drivers.Public charging can be installed and operated by state owned enterprises, utilities, and private firms.Currently most EV owners in North America charge their vehicles at home or at work (Hardman et al 2017); however, access to private charging is not universal, and can depend on building type.Evidence suggests that residents in single family homes are more likely to be early adopters of EVs than residents in multi-unit residential buildings (MURBs) (Ge et al 2021).
MURBs, and rental housing are less frequently equipped with EV charging, while those relying on street parking do not have access to home charging or chargers installed in dedicated parking spots (Lopez-Behar et al 2019).Whereas limited access to home charging may be a more prevalent barrier for urban residents, a major barrier to EV adoption among rural and suburban residents is range anxiety, (Egnér and Trosvik 2018).There are also disparities in access to this existing charging infrastructure, with several studies in the US showing that distribution of charging stations is skewed against low-income, Black identifying, and disadvantaged communities (Canepa et al 2019, Hsu and Fingerman 2021, Khan et al 2022).
The growing need for more equitable publicly available charging raises an important public policy question.Building a new charging infrastructure will require substantial new public and private investments suggesting a possible trade-off between economic viability and social equity.Where public investments are being made, the benefits need to be more widely distributed and not limited to locations that predict a positive return on investment.This is similar to other public investments (such as public transit) where public money is pooled to build appropriately designed infrastructure without obvious financial profitability for investors.Economic viability is critical to private investment; yet, there are compelling reasons for a strategy that combines social goals with economic ones.Governments around the world are planning on phasing out ICEVs.The Canadian government has announced a commitment to 100% zero-emission vehicle sales by 2035; the US recently announced rules that would mean 30%-56% of new cars being electric between 2030 and 2032.These are by no means marginal measures; with the goal to move well beyond the early adopter phase of EV diffusion to a include a much broader set of buyers.The provision of appropriate and equitable public infrastructure for this group of people will be critical to meet such goals.

A framework for assessing equity in public charging infrastructure
To facilitate a transition to EVs for the majority, public chargers need to be reliable, affordable, accessible, easy to use, and connected to a secure and reliable electric grid-for a broad range of households, not limited solely to early adopters.In this perspective paper we seek to assess the impact of two attributes of charging infrastructure-access to infrastructure and charging experience-for vehicle users in different socio-economic groupings.We do this by creating a framework (figures 1 and 2) that examines the direct and indirect impacts of charging accessibility and experiences related to charging.This framework, in the form of a flow chart, is based on a critical review of peer-reviewed literature and the grey literature including news articles, reports, and blogs from the North American context.
Recent reviews have highlighted that research on equity and charging infrastructure has to date focused predominantly on questions of placement (Kontou et al 2022, Carlton and Sultana 2023, Hopkins et al 2023) and distribution (Baker et al 2023).By drawing on grey literature and news reports, in addition to academic literature, we identify additional dimensions of charging equity that we argue are important to consider in charging infrastructure planning and research.We define access to charging (or lack thereof) to consist of four attributes: proximity, reliability, affordability, and visibility.Similarly, we define charging experience to include safety and location, ease of payment, and the presence of other co-located services.The framework explores how these two constructs affect drivers based on their income, residence type, gender, race, age, physical ability, and language and education, and intersections of these different identities.We also recognise the interconnectedness of the attributes of access and charging experience.Thus, the framework presents direct impacts of a single attribute as well as indirect impacts of an attribute in relation to another.

Access to EV charging
Below (figure 1) we identify proximity, reliability, affordability, and visibility as part of equitable access to public EV charging infrastructure that affects drivers based on their socio-economic standing.Figure 1 shows how a car owner's access to an EV charger and its usability can be determined.The nature of private and public charging varies substantially.As type of residence plays a major impact on access to private vs public charging, the flow chart begins with distinguishing drivers that live in a MURB or a single-family house.Drivers with no off-street parking are dependent on public charging infrastructure.Proximity, reliability, affordability, and visibility have been identified as major factors impacting drivers' accessibility of public chargers in literature.

Proximity
Increased access to charging infrastructure has a positive effect on EV adoption (Mersky et al 2016), but early installations of public chargers tend to occur in high-income locations, directed by early EV adopters (Kampshoff et al 2022).Nearly 50% of respondents in a sample of consumers in the US expressed that free public charging, the ability to charge at home, and easy access to fast charging would encourage them to buy or lease an EV (Shenhar and Knizenek 2022), so the lack of adequate public charging infrastructure might be a barrier to more widespread EV use.Public charging points in under-served areas might need to be installed where people travel to regularly, while focus on urban centres should be on improving access to home charging as well as public charging close to densely populated areas with limited home charging.For example, in 2021 the US had one charging point per 18.5 EVs, while international benchmarks recommend one charging point per 10-15 EVs, assuming that the majority of EV users also have access to home charging (Keith et al 2021).Moreover, the current deployment of public charging infrastructure is limited in its accessibility.Keith et al (2021) finds that only 9.7% households in the 50 most populous US cities in 2021 had access to public EV charging infrastructure within a quarter mile from their home.
Heterogeneity due to dwelling type: Dwelling type can heavily dictate access to home charging and public charging.The owner of a single-family home and a renter of an apartment can have very different charging options.There is further heterogeneity and added complexities for those living in MURBs.Epstein et al (2024) indicate that residents in MURBs with off-street parking may not have assigned parking spots, creating the need for dedicated charging hubs in the communal parking spaces.They suggest that such communal charging hubs can provide the flexibility of installing EV chargers near existing electric outlets.Zhang et al (2023) further investigate the performance of charging hubs to reduce wait times by introducing charging schedule management.Additionally, while some shared dwelling types (e.g., townhouses) may have the physical capacity for an electrical upgrade, the presence of a condominium homeowners association (HOA) may require owners to seek permission before making any alterations to their unit.HOAs that are not knowledgeable of electrical infrastructure requirements may present a barrier for condo owners.There are also disparities in access to public charging based on house type.For example, Keith et al (2021) find that only about 20% of residents in Boston live near a public charger, and many areas of high population density that often overlap with areas of high rental density have on-street overnight parking, and so lack access to charging.This effect of dwelling type on access to private or public charging is reflected in figure 1.
Several new technologies and innovative practices are increasing the utility of existing charging infrastructure and increasing its availability.Los Angeles city has over 3100 public EV charging plugs with about 24.3% of its population living near public charging (Keith et al 2021).The study also proposes chargers at 169 public schools in Baltimore City citing these spaces to have minimal parking demand after school hours and being well distributed in residential neighbourhoods providing more equitable access to public charging in the city.Seattle City Light is providing installation and operation of 31 curb-side Level 2 chargers around Seattle city to provide near-home EV charging for users without off-street parking (Seattle City Light n.d.).

Reliability
Reliability of public charging is important for building confidence in the EV charging infrastructure and to promote the adoption of EVs beyond early adopters.Here, we define reliability of an EV charger based on the following elements: Is the charger functional, broken, unresponsive, or unable to charge due to other technical issues despite showing available on its app?Is the cable long enough to be used for all compatible EVs and PHEVs?Does cost and speed of charging reflect the cost and speed indicated on its app?
In a sample of 657 charging points in the Greater Bay Area of California, US, Rempel et al (2022) found that only 72.5% of the charging points were functional and 4.9% had EV inlets where the cable was too short.22.7% of the unfunctional equipment was either unresponsive or had unavailable screens, charging initiation failures, payment system failures, network failures, or broken connectors.Further, upon randomly re-examining 10% of the chargers after 8 d, they saw no change indicating slow response time for un-functional chargers.Similarly, another study shows that 25% people in California state find public charging unreliable (J.D. Power 2023).This is especially common with non-Tesla drivers in the US who report experiences with public charging stations that are damaged, offline, unavailable, or charging at slower than advertised rates (Voelcker 2022).There is also variability between charging networks, example Tesla Superchargers are typically more reliable than those operated by other companies.So those buying more affordable non-Tesla EVs will have less access to reliable public charging infrastructure.Additionally, users find that charging at work can be unreliable compared to charging at home (Delmonte et al 2020).
Figure 1 shows that poor reliability of public charging stations disproportionately affects those that do not have access to charging at home and so are dependent on public charging infrastructure.It may also affect low-income households who may be unable to pay high cost of charging, if another less expensive functional charger is located further away.Similarly, women and gender-diverse individuals, racialized minorities, seniors, and those with physical accessibility requirements may find it challenging to find other charging stations if their usual chargers are not functional given the uncertainties of safety, location, and accessibility (discussed further below).More broadly, poor reliability of public chargers negatively impacts consumers' trust in the EV charging system and may serve as a barrier to wider transition to EVs.
Uptime is defined as the operational availability of a charger and downtime is when a charger is not functional.In California, there are state-level reporting requirements for charging uptime, but no consensus on national level, industry level, or between states on definition and calculation of uptime (Rempel et al 2022, Keith andWomack 2023).Keith and Womack (2023) attribute the persistence of non-functional chargers to a business model where the majority of the revenue is being generated by the upfront sale of hardware and recurring networking fees, rather than the utilization of the charger.There is lack of clarity on who is responsible for downtime as a result of outages in a blackout or cellular network outages, when a vehicle is unable to communicate with the charger, as well as in cases of vandalism.Thus, in the absence of a maintenance service agreement, a vendor may have no obligation to ensure that the charging station at a host site is functional.Part of the flaw may be that most government funding for EV charging is focussed on installation of chargers and does not consist of operationality requirements (Labbe 2022, Rabson 2023).User fees and private funding carry the major costs of maintenance of charging station (Energy5 2023, Montoya 2023), thus further disadvantaging public chargers in under-utilised communities.

Affordability
The lower cost of EV charging plays an important role in making EVs an attractive alternative to internal combustion engines (ICEs) for the majority of car users.There is also heterogeneity in public charging costs to consider.For example, Tesla does not have a uniform rate nationwide, raises its rate frequently and has a higher charging fee in California (Shenhar and Knizenek 2022).Higher cost of charging has a disproportionately high impact on users dependent on public chargers.EV users charging at public charging stations have lower flexibility for choosing when to charge when compared to users with access to home charging.As most public charging takes place during the day when the cost of electricity is higher, drivers using public charging may be forced to pay as much as five to ten times more per kilowatt-hour compared to home charging (Kampshoff et al 2022).Households relying on public chargers have an additional disadvantage of need to rely more often on DC fast chargers, which are more expensive, given the lower time of charging.A 30-40 min wait to fully charge at a DC fast charger is plausible, but it may not be feasible for the same individual to wait for 8 h for slower charging.In contrast, drivers with access to private charging can rely on level 2 or level 1 as their vehicles are typically charged overnight.
Low-income users are more sensitive to prices and are less able to charge when the cost of charging increases (Cheng et al 2019).This lack of affordability of public chargers may also have an indirect impact based on demographic characteristics such as gender, race, class, age and physical ability and language if public chargers in well lit, safe locations with physical and language accessibility are more expensive.Lack of affordable charging also impacts users with access to private charging based on income and residence type as electricity rates of utilities may differ by area, usage, and time of charge.For example, users charging in MURBs may have different cost of charging compared to single family homeowners due to time of charge and strata/HOA regulations.

Visibility
Unlike conventional gas stations which are visible and occur in clusters, EV charging can be more sparsely distributed.This makes the visibility of EV charging a more critical factor in their use.Visibility of public charging stations include its visibility on EV charger apps, along with presence of other information-such as the cost of charging, speed of charge, parking and other access constraints, types of charging adapter accepted, and number of available charging points.These characteristics may influence whether the charger can be used by a particular car or driver.
Users have also expressed concern over the inaccuracy of charging network apps in indicating availability of charging stations (Hara 2023).Apps from one charging operator tend to exclude stations operated by competitor companies, thus reducing pricing and availability options for users (Kampshoff et al 2022).The capability of mapping public chargers by all operators along with nearby amenities such as restrooms, grocery stores etc, can help users easily find the next convenient charger.
In addition to online visibility, being able to visually identify public chargers when driving is also crucial for those users who do not use smartphones.In the US this amounts to 15% of the adult population (Pew Research Center 2021).In Canada, non-smart phone users make up 12% of the population, though this number climbs to 40% for those above 65 years (Statistics Canada 2019).
Gas stations in urban areas are often located right along major roads and are well illuminated, making them easy for a driver to spot.Well-illuminated chargers make it easier for EV drivers to find chargers at night (Ruoff 2022).Gas stations along highways are also often clearly marked by signage.However, this is not standard practice for public EV charging stations, making it a challenging task for drivers to find charging stations when they need, further adding to range anxiety.Lastly, some public chargers are located inside gated parking lots, not all visible chargers are open access to all EV drivers.
Lack of visibility of chargers primarily affects drivers dependent on public charging.Transparency on cost of electricity enables users make an informed decision and may be particularly important for low-income EV users to choose a charging location and time of charge accordingly.Poor physical visibility of public chargers directly disadvantages those less comfortable with digital technology (e.g.smartphones) or without access to vehicles with built-in apps, which may have intersections with age, language, and income.Physical visibility, especially by locating charging points on major roads and illumination of chargers also indirectly impacts users based on gender and race.Chargers located in isolated locations with poor illumination may deter women, people of colour, and other vulnerable groups from charging at nights due to personal safety concerns (Trigueros 2023).

Charging experience
The second dimension of our charging framework as shown in figure 2, is charging experience.Charging experience for users includes ease of accessing the charger based on location and sense of personal safety when charging, ease of payment, and access to other services such as shelter from weather, shade, basic car maintenance, restrooms, convenience stores, etc at or near charging stations.These features, while being standard practice at most gas stations around North America, are largely missing at public EV charging stations.Thus, an improvement in the overall charging experience is needed in order to motivate majority of consumers to transition away from ICE vehicles and towards EVs.As cities roll out plans to expand charging infrastructures in cities, there is a surfeit of examples, especially in the grey literature, showing user discomfort with existing chargers.Figure 2 shows how lack of safety and location, ease of payment, and other services impact drivers based on their socio-economic backgrounds.

Safety and location
A sense of personal safety at EV charging stations can differ across users and so impact the acceptance of public chargers.Lack of safety and appropriate location for installing public chargers has a direct high impact on users based on gender, race, class, age, and physical ability.In a US study 8% of the respondents indicated that a concern for personal safety when charging at public charging stations was a barrier to purchasing or leasing an EV (Shenhar and Knizenek 2022).Disaggregated data shows that higher percentages of English-speaking non-whites-Asian Americans (15%), Hispanic (12%), and Black, non-Hispanic (11%)-have personal safety concerns at public charging stations that might discourage them from purchasing EVs as compared to white, non-Hispanic Americans (6%).While representative data are hard to come by, lack of personal safety may be an increasing concern for drivers depending on gender, including women and gender-diverse drivers.For example, a female driver in Vancouver's downtown east side reported a man trying to open her car door while she was inside the car at a parking garage waiting for the charging to complete (Clarkson 2023).The passenger set the car alarm off as the man was persistent in trying to get to her inside her car, when eventually a security guard showed up and asked the man to leave.She was unable to drive off as the car was plugged into the charger, highlighting the need to ensure personal safety around chargers.A UX designer from Flo, a charging station operator pointed to the lack of female perspectives on aspects of EVs and EV charging (Trigueros 2023).Women reported not feeling safe using different charging networks, and trying to avoid charging at night and staying inside their vehicles during the charging duration as a result of not feeling safe at a charging site (Trigueros 2023).Finally, seniors and users with special physical needs require charging stations in locations that meet physical accessibility requirements (US Department of Energy 2016).For example, seniors of those with physical disability may have difficulty lifting heavy charging cables and users in a wheelchair require appropriate clearance around charger for manoeuvring.
Drivers also report better experiences with some firms than others.For example, Tesla's chargers are usually located in busy well-lit areas with public restroom facilities with 24 h accessibility (Shenhar and Knizenek 2022).The study also found that EV chargers by other operators, including Electrify America, are often in locations such as a strip mall, needing drivers to take detours from highways in seemingly stranded locations This increases safety concerns and can serve as a barrier to solo travellers especially women, racial minorities, and those traveling with small children from transitioning to EVs.

Ease of payment
Payment options differ among different charging station operators, with some accepting credit cards and some accepting payment only through an app (Yakub 2023).Operators also have their own apps to locate their chargers and pay for charging, further making the process cumbersome and adding inconsistencies in payment methods.Additionally, there is a degree of variation in pricing systems, from charging users per minute or kilowatt-hour to pay-per-use and memberships, making it difficult for many consumers to compare and pick the best payment method (Kampshoff et al 2022).There is opportunity for sub-national regulators to introduce mandates to standardise a payment method, for example, all charging stations must accept credit cards or use 'Plug and Charge' protocol.Public chargers linked to network-specific cars or accepting only specific apps can deter users from accessing those charging stations.Some EV drivers may also be discouraged by lack of flexibility with payment methods.Charging stations requiring payment through different apps may also deter older drivers and drivers whose first language is not English as they may need to learn and familiarize themselves with a new charging station every time they need to charge.

Other services
The presence of other co-located services, especially on highways, are critical to user comfort and well-being.The early history of US gas stations is instructive in this regard.In the early 1900s, prior to the growth of large oil firms, shop owners provided gasoline in buckets to passing vehicles, (Special 2022).Soon after, curbside gas pumps with no added services emerged to meet this need.(Smithsonian and Eschner 2017).The Gulf Refining Company first designed a pagoda-style brick facility in Pennsylvania offering water, crankcase service, air, and tire and tube installation in 1913 (Wells 2023).These services offered by gas stations created a 'refuelling experience' and helped meet the car upkeep services in addition to refuelling.With time, weather sheds, convenience stores, 24 h lighting and security cameras helped create the service stations of today.Unlike gas service stations, DC fast charging stations tend not have an overhead shed to protect users from rain and sun, are not equipped with car cleaning tools, restrooms, or trash bins for people to empty garbage accumulated over a road trip (Shenhar and Knizenek 2022).DC fast charging sites also lack nearby convenience stores to refill on snacks and coffee, use restroom, and take shelter in case of bad weather.Lack of these seemingly basic services create a very frustrating charging experience for drivers, especially during road trips (Levin 2023) Lack of information on customer assistance phone lines and amenities at charging locations such as restrooms, restaurants create a negative user experience for EV users (Ruoff 2022).Cheng et al (2019) find that younger, high income, female, and more experienced drivers pay more attention to charging services.For this category of users, as satisfaction with charging services increases, usage and willingness to pay for charging also increases (Cheng et al 2019).

Discussion-role of government and utilities
Some of the equity concerns identified above may diminish over time as operators work the learning curve about the needs of their clientele (Keith and Womack 2023).In the meantime, a continued dialogue between key stakeholders of the charging ecosystem, including EV users, automakers, charging station operators and installers, policymakers, and utility officers, is needed.It is important to identify the market failures that contribute to inequities with public charging infrastructure.Studies also show that new energy and grid upgrades are disproportionately low for households in Black-identifying and disadvantaged census block groups in California, highlighting the need for equity goals in designing new infrastructure (Brockway et al., 2021).Maps of charging stations from most big cities in the United States show blank spaces, also known as charging deserts, coinciding with predominantly Black and Latino neighbourhoods (Englund 2021).This may cause minority neighbourhoods to miss out on the benefits of EV adoption (such as cleaner air and improved mobility and potentially lower cost as the price of EVs drop) while EV usage increases in high-income (and mostly white) communities.However, there is evidence that such inequities can be.For example, Guo and Kontou (2021) show that distribution of purchasing rebates for EV adoption in California are skewed towards high-income EV buyers; however with equity-focused changes, low-income households and disadvantaged communities benefit over time.As with purchase subsidies, approaches to the provisioning of charging that account for equity, can reduce the total cost of vehicular operation, but this will only be possible with coordination within and across governments and industry.

Role of national and regional governments
Infrastructure subsidies: National and regional infrastructure programs can help bring equity to the fore.Ash et al (2023) argue that it is in the public interest for national agencies to adopt an equity focus in the early stages to avoid downstream concerns.For example, the US 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) provides funds to build 500 000 EV chargers across the US provided states submit plans that intentionally include equity considerations (Lindwall 2023).The Bipartisan infrastructure law introduced in the United States allocates $7.5 billion for the development of EV public charging infrastructure, including adding 500 000 public charging stations noted above.This law includes reliability requirements, stating that federally funded EV charging stations must satisfy 97% uptime (Morris 2023).However, regulatory definitions of 'uptime' may not correspond the users' experience of being able to charge, much less at the rate advertised.More broadly, there is lack of comprehensive reporting and data on the exact nature of errors with non-functioning chargers and root causes of the problem (Morris 2023).Measuring the performance of public chargers and reporting it publicly may place pressure on operators into a more prompt response to non-working chargers.
If different jurisdictions are committed to making the transition to EVs a success, public investment benefits must be widely distributed.For instance, of the $7.5 billion investment towards EV charging in the United States allocates $5 billion to building a 'backbone' of high-speed chargers at a maximum 50 mile distance from each other along America's major roads, freeways, and interstates.The remaining $2.5 billion is aimed at states and localities for competitive grants to fill gaps and make charging more accessible.States and localities can use this opportunity to ensure equitable distribution of public charging infrastructure.
Local and Regional Mandates: As installation of EV chargers expands an assessment of the additional load on the electric grid will be required.Fernández Aznar et al (2018) show that if existing petrol pumps in urban areas were to install EV chargers, grid upgrades and local energy storages may be required to manage electricity demand rise.Addition of EV chargers near highways near small, underserved communities could create additional electric load burden on these communities.There is also scope for regional governments to incentivise infrastructure in low-income communities and where there is presently low EV adoption.Due to low utilization and profitability in these areas, government subsidies and mandates may be required for incentivizing action on the part of utilities and charging station operators.For example, the use of public funding of $5000 to $20 000 per station in 56% of sites in New York state has resulted in increased financial viability compared to 36% sites without public funding (Atlas Public Policy 2019).In some jurisdictions such as the City of Vancouver, the regional government has set up plans to mandate gas stations to extend their existing infrastructure and install public EV chargers.This initiative takes advantage of existing infrastructure built to serve a diverse population.In 2022, the Vancouver city council approved a $10 000 annual fine for gas stations and commercial parking lots that do not comply with installation of EV chargers that provide 50 kWh and 26.6 kWh respectively by January 2022 (Griffiths 2022, Hanley 2022).However, such policies need to be designed with care to ensure economic feasibility and broad uptake by businesses.The mandate by City of Vancouver requires gas stations to install at least one DC fast charger and parking lots to install a minimum of four level 2 chargers, the installation costs of which greatly exceeds the annual fine of $10 000.In addition to the return on investment of the installed chargers being 8 years, business owners point to limited present demand for EV chargers, lack of electricity supply and space.It is unclear if the Vancouver law is a success.

Role of private firms and utilities
The Role of Standardization: Standardization of EV charging stations and charging points is needed to make charger stations usable by owners of a wide variety of car models.In November of 2022, Tesla opened its North American Charging Standard (NACS) plug to other automakers.As a result, several major automakers have promised NACS ports by 2025 for EVs in North America (Yakub 2023).This makes a much larger number of chargers available to EV drivers, while highlighting that the present number is insufficient to absorb increasing demand.However, currently there is no indication of making the NACS plug mandatory, and it is unclear if NACS will be standardized.Over time, gas stations have evolved to provide standardised service in terms of refuelling process, method of payment, physical accessibility, and safety measures, cable length, and adapter type.EV charging infrastructure developers can learn from the practices and services adopted by gas stations to benefit wide range.Additionally, some gas stations are beginning to offer EV charging in addition to gas pumps-e.g.: Petro Canada's Electric Highway and Canadian Tire's charging network in collaboration with FLO, Electrify Canada, and Natural Resources Canada (Special 2022).However, there is a need for larger network of EV charging than gas stations due to the longer charging time associated with EVs.
Integration with existing services: Several retailers are beginning to step up and provide EV charging services for their customers through partnerships with charging operators.Starbucks Corporation, in partnership with Volvo cars and ChargePoint announced in 2022 that they will install 60 DC fast chargers in 15 Starbucks stores approximately every 100 miles along the 1350 mile route from Seattle, Washington to Denver, Colorado (Chargepoint 2022).Costco was one of the first retailers to install EV charging stations in the 1990s (Read 2011).While these charging stations are being removed without a public reason, other retailers such as Walmart and Target are stepping up to install increasing number of chargers at their stores (Voelcker 2013, Edelstein 2023).These examples point to the idea that charging stations need to be located where amenities already exist.Amenities such as supermarkets, grocery stores, parks, malls and hospitals, are hubs which are frequented and are often located close to commute routes.

Conclusion
We aim to take a holistic view of EV charging with the aim of making EVs accessible to a broader range of people.Most research on EV adoption and expansion of charging infrastructure globally pays little attention to consumer heterogeneity, with only a few studies that disaggregate consumer data across user characteristics-such as gender, race, age, income, special physical needs, language, education levels.Disaggregating consumer and usage data can be an important step in filling this gap.Greater attention to consumer heterogeneity will help avoid wasted resources, better harmonise supply and demand, and ensure equitable access to EVs and related services.There is need for research that addresses both social equity considerations and economic feasibility of installing charging stations in a particular location, as these are both important factors for a sustainable system.Additionally, future research can explore how innovations like smart charging technologies and 'plug and charge' can be adopted to improve efficiency and affordability of EV chargers and make them accessible to more users.Wolbertus et al (2020) found varying stakeholder perspectives on the extent to which smart charging should be a priority.There is thus a need for both qualitative and quantitative studies to fill in these emergent gaps.Regulators can help standardize EV public charging stations to account for accessibility, safety, visibility, and affordability and so enable an EV transition that is both effective and just.These considerations are essential to make sure that the energy transition towards EVs does not exacerbate existing social inequalities and we hope that this paper is a contribution to this emerging debate.

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Determinants for access to EV charging-private charging and public charging.4

Figure 2 .
Figure 2. Determinants of EV charging experience-private charging and public charging.