Transportation is the leading driver of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in the United States, and makes up 40 percent of Connecticut’s GHG emissions. Recognizing transport’s dominant role in emissions, U.S. state and federal governments have made huge investments to electrify transport. Infrastructure improvements, such as adding vehicle charging stations, are critical.
Approximately 1.5 million public charging ports will be required to meet U.S. demand in 2030, around 10 times the number of ports available at the end of 2023. With so many chargers to install, where should they be placed to best encourage people to use electric vehicles (EVs)?
To answer this question, the Transportation Electrification at Scale team, composed of researchers from the Yale School of the Environment, the Yale School of Public Health, and the Yale Tobin Center for Economic Policy, has successfully developed a new algorithm for optimizing electric vehicle charging station placement. Tools like this allow governments to identify where to invest in EV infrastructure to minimize driver inconvenience, maximize the uptake of EVs, and evenly distribute the costs and benefits of electrification.
“We want to provide sensible recommendations to policymakers that allow them to make informed, thoughtful decisions,” said Kenneth Gillingham, Grinstein Class of 1954 Professor of Environmental and Energy Economics.
The model also factors in identifying relationships between charging station locations and demographic data.
The team has already shared their work with interested regulators in Connecticut, New York, Georgia, and Washington.
Last updated September 2025.
