If you’re driving on the highway, odds are, you’ve seen your fair share of Tesla’s and other electric vehicles (living in LA, I can’t go more than a block without spotting one). The electric vehicle boom is already well under way in the United States, raising a valuable question—is the current parking infrastructure in the US ready for these vehicles? 

The Shift from Gas to Green 

Back in 2022, the Biden administration declared that it wanted half of new U.S. vehicle sales to be electric by 2030. As this plan proceeds, EVs will get cheaper, the used-EV market will grow, and rural charging options will increase. Simply put, these vehicles will cease to be a symbol of wealth, or even environmentalism. They’ll be normal. And one of the great limiting factors in their ownership will be the space to park and plug them in. A good parking spot, in the electric-vehicle era, is about to become more important than ever. 

Surveys have repeatedly found that access to home charging is among the most influential factors determining whether someone will go electric. That access is easy enough for those who can plug their cars right into their wall, but one in three U.S. households does not have a private garage. They’re what the charging industry calls “garage orphans”—and charging options for their EVs will be limited for years to come.  

“Access to parking, already a struggle that brings out the worst in American drivers, is about to become an all-important factor in decarbonizing the American economy,” journalist and parking expert Henry Grabar recently wrote for the Atlantic in his article EVs Make Parking Even More Annoying. “Tens of millions of drivers will have to learn to share.” 

The EV Effect on Power Grids 

The relationship between EVs and the power grid extends far beyond simple electricity consumption. Consider this: when you charge your EV, you're not just drawing power from an EV charging station—you're participating in a complex system of energy distribution that impacts entire neighborhoods. People who own an electric vehicle will need to be wary not only of their own usage, but of the times in which they charge their cars.  

Evening charging creates the perfect storm for power demand. EV owners tend to plug in their vehicles just as families return home and power up their appliances. A single street with multiple charging EVs can quadruple the typical power draw, pushing aging infrastructure to its limits. While a typical household uses 2-3 kW during peak hours, adding an EV charger can spike this demand to 10-25 kW. Most power grids in major cities and towns across the US are not currently equipped to handle this amount of energy usage. 

Neighborhood transformers could also face unprecedented challenges. These transformers, many of which were installed decades ago, would suddenly find themselves managing sustained high-power delivery—something they were never designed to handle. 

The strain could become particularly evident in areas with high EV adoption rates, where multiple households might be charging their cars simultaneously. 

Elon Musk and his Role 

By now, we’re probably all keeping an eye on politics as president-elect Donald Trump announced that Elon Musk (along with Vivek Ramaswamy) will lead a new “Department of Government Efficiency” in his second administration. Musk, being the co-founder and CEO of Tesla, has also been a fundamental player in the switch from gas to electric vehicles.  

After all, it was Tesla that ultimately drove (pun intended) the electric vehicles to mass popularity. In his new position, Musk will not only be pushing for financial restructuring but will continue to develop and oversee potential solutions to the Electric Vehicle boom and the struggles that may arise. 

The evolution of Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) technology. 

One of the transformative trends reshaping the parking and mobility industry is the emergence of V2G technology. Unless you’ve been keeping a close eye on the world of EVs, this might feel foreign to you, so let me break it down. This innovative concept goes beyond the conventional electricity consumption of EVs and empowers them to contribute surplus energy back to the grid.  

With V2G technology, parked EVs can serve as mobile energy storage units, creating a dynamic ecosystem where vehicle owners can sell their excess energy. This has the potential to revolutionize parking lots, transforming them into virtual power plants that provide new revenue streams for both EV owners and businesses. By harnessing the power of V2G technology, the parking and mobility industry can actively participate in the energy transition, promoting sustainability while also unlocking economic opportunities. 

Will We be Ready by 2030? 

The short and probably unhelpful answer is...no one knows for sure. I know that kind of sucks to hear but think about it—the government would have to start and then continue to prioritize new developments in clean energy to minimize the impact that EVs will have on the power grid. The Actual EV charging stations would need to be readily available, not just in major cities, but everywhere. There are a lot of moving parts here, but I think that it’s certainly possible.  

As it stands, no, American infrastructure isn’t able to handle as many electric vehicles as the government would like to see on the road and with only 5 years until 2030 your opinion on whether or not you believe we’ll be ready is entirely up to your trust in the upcoming political environment. Maybe with Elon Musk playing an important role in the U.S government, we’ll start to see more EV initiatives becoming more of a priority.