As EV sales in NC hit the fast lane, how is Wilmington doing?

Electric vehicles (EV) are all the rage these days, with officials seeing their adoption as key to meeting aggressive greenhouse gas emission reduction targets. North Carolina officials have set a goal of reducing the state's carbon dioxide emissions by 70% by 2030 compared to 2005 levels, and to reach “carbon-neutral” status by 2050.

Even as North Carolina pushes to quickly reduce tailpipe emissions, Gov. Roy Cooper wants to see EV numbers increasing even faster since the transportation sector is responsible for roughly 36% of the state's greenhouse gas emissions.

Metros lead the way

North Carolina now has more than 51,000 electric vehicles, having added more than 15,000 in 2022. With "green" vehicle sales on a sharp upward trajectory, the state is on pace to meet Cooper’s goal, announced in 2018, of at least 80,000 “zero-emission” registrations by 2025. In January 2022, the governor decided to raise the bar by announcing he wanted to see 1.25 million zero-emission vehicles by 2030.

Not surprisingly, Raleigh and Charlotte metro areas lead the state, with 13,381 plug-in vehicles registered in Wake County and 8,790 in Mecklenburg. Other counties with substantial EV and plug-in hybrid numbers are Durham, Guilford, Orange and Union counties.

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Buncombe County, home to Asheville, also has aggressively embraced plug-in vehicles. The county has 2,576 EVs and plug-in hybrids, or nearly 1.3% out of its 218,897 registered vehicles, which includes gas, diesel, EVs, plug-in hybrids and regular hybrid vehicles.

In the Wilmington area, New Hanover County has 1,325 EV and plug-in hybrids out of roughly 174,000 registered vehicles, or about 0.76% of its vehicles.

Brunswick County had 138,888 registered vehicles as of the end of 2022, with 621 − or 0.45% − electric vehicles or plug-in hybrids.

Pender County had 220 plug-in vehicles out of 58,807 registered vehicles, or 0.37%.

Price and range concerns

Even as officials and car companies push electric vehicles, there are still several major obstacles preventing the widespread adoption of the new technology.

Price is often listed by consumers as the major concern, although new government incentive programs could shave as much as $7,500 off some EV's sticker prices. A price war among EV manufacturers, launched by Tesla earlier this month, also could help more people afford EVs.

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Range anxiety is another factor many consumers mention when it comes to whether or not to buy an EV. Public charging stations, while increasing, are still rare in many areas, and lack of access to charging stations is seen as a major impediment for apartment and city dwellers without driveways from being potential EV customers.

Governments are pushing hard to increase charging capacity. Private businesses, including hotels and restaurants, also are stepping up by adding chargers, seeing charging access as a customer convenience and way to attract business.

Reporter Gareth McGrath can be reached at GMcGrath@Gannett.com or @GarethMcGrathSN on Twitter. This story was produced with financial support from 1Earth Fund and the Prentice Foundation. The USA TODAY Network maintains full  editorial control of the work.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Wilmington lags other metro NC areas in electric vehicle adoption