For Doorae Shin of Honolulu, the most practical way to charge up her electric vehicle is with a publicly accessible fast charger, but she can find only a few viable in-town options.

That means sometimes waiting up to an hour at Ala Moana Center for one of three DC fast chargers to open up so she can charge up her Volkswagen e-Golf to its full range in a shorter amount of time at a cost of 43 cents per kilowatt­-hour.

She bought her EV used about a year ago to replace a Chevy Spark as part of a conscious decision to reduce her carbon footprint. But she, along with many others, says the greatest challenge is the hunt for available chargers.

Shin maintains the demand is likely higher in urban Honolulu, where many residents live in condos and apartments without access to their own home chargers, compared with suburbs. And yet there are only a handful of fast chargers in the area.

Other public chargers that are slower, but free, are often taken up, with some users exceeding the recommended limit of two hours. Also, many chargers are broken, out of service or sometimes incompatible with certain EV models.

“It’s difficult, for sure,” Shin said. “There are definitely moments I think the problem is they’re selling so many and not getting infrastructure up in line with the sales.”

Still, Shin has no regrets about making the switch to EV, which she had aimed to do once she could afford it. In addition to a quieter drive, Shin said she’s saving money on gas and maintenance.

The number of passenger EVs in Hawaii has topped the 20,000 mark, according to the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. There were 20,684 passenger EVs in August — a 28% jump from the same month in 2021. According to DBEDT’s Energy Trend report, that count represents about 2% of all registered passenger vehicles in the state.

The tally is expected to climb as more EV options become available at lower price points, along with new federal incentives, as drivers contend with continued high gasoline prices.

EVs are hot sellers in Hawaii, according to Bill Cousino, floor manager of Windward Ford of Hawaii. They were popular before gas prices went up but are even more so now.

Demand was unprecedented for the F-150 Lighting, Ford’s first electric pickup truck, which has already sold out for the year at a premium. The trucks were sold out before they even arrived here, Cousino said, noting they’re in limited supply. While orders are still being taken for the next round, the wait might take up to two years.

Additionally, numerous other EVs are in demand, representing nearly 1 out of every 10 new cars sold, according to Drive Electric Hawaii.

“The EVs are really taking off,” Cousino said. “Each manufacturer is coming out with more models, and Hawaii is more green and more empowered because we don’t have that many miles to go. That’s the hindrance on the mainland.”

The first conversation he has with any potential EV buyer is where they are going to charge their car and whether they can do it at home or at a nearby publicly accessible charger.

Demand for chargers

Shin and other EV drivers here assert that charging infrastructure in the islands needs to keep up with demand, which includes installing more fast chargers.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, Hawaii has about 360 locations offering about 800 publicly available charging ports. The majority of them, more than 700, are Level 2 chargers, while fewer than 100 are Level 3, or DC fast chargers.

The Level 2 chargers can add 15 to 30 miles of range per hour of charging, while Level 3 can add 60 to 100 miles in 30 minutes.

The state’s sole Tesla Supercharger site, with six ports, is at Pearlridge Center, but Teslas can also use charging ports elsewhere.

More fast chargers are on the way, with the White House last week announcing that all 50 states have received final approval to start construction on the first nationwide network of EV charging stations. The National EV Infrastructure, or NEVI, plan requires that one fast charging station be installed every 50 miles as well as within a mile of Hawaii’s highways.

Closing reliability gaps

This is welcome news to the Big Island Electric Vehicle Association, which says the number of EV chargers on the largest island in the state is insufficient, particularly with the growth in popularity.

“It becomes more and more of an issue as time passes,” said association leader Noel Morin. “It’s not just about the number of plugs or ports or stations. It’s also the fact there are reliability issues. There are stations that have been installed and, for whatever reason, they’re out of order. … It takes a while to get them resolved, or they haven’t been resolved for years.”

The public charging station near Home Depot in Hilo is one example. It was one of the first available on Hawaii island but has been out of commission for years.

Hawaii island only has eight Level 3 fast chargers but clearly needs more, Morin said. While most EV charging can take place at home, in the interest of equity, more public charging needs to be available so people living in apartments, condos and various rental housing can also make the transition to EVs.

Among the EV charger gaps on Hawaii island is a 77-mile stretch along Daniel K. Inouye Highway, or Saddle Road, a commuter route between Hilo and Kona. There is no charger along that corridor, which used to present a challenge for EV drivers but less so now, with stepped-up range available in current EV models.

But it would be ideal to have one charger site at a rest stop along that corridor for emergency charging, according to Morin, to help EVs running low. The DOT was granted an exception from placing a NEVI charger there but is considering placement of another type of charger along the stretch.

The south loop of the island, from Puna to Kau and South Point, is also without EV chargers, Morin said.

On Oahu, Hawaiian Electric recently expanded its network of fast chargers, installing two at Bishop Museum in Kalihi, and plans are in the works for chargers at Waikiki-Kapahulu Public Library and Kailua Town Center, which would bring the utility’s total count to 32.

The Hawaiian Electric DC fast chargers can provide about 40 miles for a typical EV in 15 minutes, with fees varying by island and adjusted according to time of use.

By 2030, the company said, more than 3,600 public charging stations will be needed at workplaces, shopping centers, parks and multiunit dwellings so that future EV users have dependable charging solutions.

Hawaiian Electric is seeking regulatory approval to install 150 single-port DC fast chargers and 150 dual-port Level 2 chargers across the five islands that it serves with a new, lower rate structure.

In 2021, Hawaiian Electric launched a “Charge Up Hawaii” survey to see where EV users wanted public charging sites by dropping pins on an online map. Participants dropped more than 1,800 pins, primarily in dense urban neighborhoods such as Ala Moana and Kakaako, as well as in some rural communities on Hawaii island, including Kau and Kawaihae. There were also pins dropped for Kula, Maui, and on Lanai.