As The U.S. invests heavily in electric vehicles, Kentucky is falling behind. Northern Kentucky alone only has two charging stations.
One is in Hotel Covington, at 638 Madison Ave., and the other is in the Meijer parking lot in Florence, at 4990 Houston Road.
In Kentucky, 0.26% of vehicles are electric. For every 10,000 vehicles, there’s one alternative fuel station and three electric charging outlets.
When looking at each state’s number of electric vehicles, charging outlets, alternative fuel stations and EV incentives it was found that California is leading the way with 40% of all electric vehicles on the road, 33% of all charging outlets and nearly three times as many EV vehicles than any other state.
The states that ranked the lowest in terms of embracing EV trends were Louisiana, Kentucky, Alabama and other southern states.
Some of the concerns that make consumers hesitant to electric vehicles are things like insurance.
The average cost of car insurance for a brand new electric car is $240 a month. The prices range from $189 a month for a Nissan Leaf S to $388 a month for an Audi Q4 e-tron.
While the price or value of the vehicle is important to insurance companies, they also analyze the accident frequency or repair costs of each model to determine which cars are risker, or more expensive to insure.
The Audi Q4 e-tron, with a Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) of $48,800, is the most expensive electric car to purchase and insure. Even though the Hyundai Kona is the cheapest to insure, its $39,900 MSRP makes it more expensive than the Nissan Leaf, $27,800, and Chevy Bolt, $32,495.
Most insurance companies that sell car insurance for gasoline-powered vehicles also offer insurance for electric vehicles.
Tesla Insurance is also available to Tesla owners by accessing information about the way you drive directly from your vehicle and giving you a discount if you achieve or maintain a high enough “safety score.”
Progressive, averages $185 a month to insure an electric car and GEICO $190 a month.
So, do electric vehicles cost more to insure?
As more people drive an electric vehicle, the numbers become more comparable to a gasoline-powered vehicle. If all other rate factors are the same, a vehicle’s value plays a larger role in determining its cost to insure than its fuel score.
For a Hyundai Kona SEL, the annual insurance rate for the electric vehicle was $2,269 whereas its comparable gas counterpart was $2,265. For a Kia Niro EV EX’s annual insurance rate was $2,334 and its comparable counterpart was $2,295.
The exception is the Audi Q4 e-tron which costs about $1,200 more a year to insure than an Audi Q5, its closest sibling in the manufacturer’s family.
There are currently 47 federal incentives to purchase electric cars which include grants, tax breaks, loans and leases, rebates, credits, exemptions and other programs in the country.
States that offer more electric vehicle incentives generally have better adoption rates.