It’s getting easier to charge your EV in Washington state – KPQ

During the last half of 2024. The news about electric cars. (EVs.) Didn’t sound that great. The news media was telling us that EV sales were down. Car manufacturers are telling us that’s why they were backing off on manufacturing EV’s. Now here we are in 2025 when we find out that that’s not true.  

According to kbb.com,
‘Americans bought 1.3 million electric vehicles (EVs) in 2024, a new record. A late sales surge helped, as EV sales spiked 15.2% year-over-year in the fourth quarter.’ 

That kbb in kbb.com stands for Kelley Blue Book. They know what they’re talking about. 

Let’s go back in time a little bit. 

The first Nissan Leaf was produced back in 2010 for sale. When I first heard about it, I was curious and then when our local Nissan dealer got one, I thought it would be interesting to try it out. The first thing I discovered, I would not fit inside it. Back in 2012 when I gave it a shot, I was 6’4” and 280 lbs. I could barely squeeze my body inside the car, and I couldn’t get my legs underneath the steering wheel in order to touch the pedals.”  

Several years later I decided to take the plunge. The first electric car I took home was a Kia Soul. (On lease). Much roomier than the leaf, (still a tight fit) fun to drive and it had a range of 120 miles. In order to get home from the dealership, I had to stop at Stevens Pass and charge. 

Several vehicles later, it’s now 2025. (I’m still driving a Kia) and it’s much easier to get from point to point driving an electric car. In fact, in the last four years there are now nearly twice as many charging stations. 

Right now, in Washington state there are over 2600 charging stations. Each station has multiple charging ports that you can plug into. The total number of charging ports in Washington state Is up to about 7000. One of the reasons for this big uptick in public charging ports is that Tesla is slowly migrating their charging system into other manufacturers fleets. 

Kia was supposed to have access to EV in the middle of January. Now they’re saying maybe spring (No, I’m not bitter about that) but a lot more options are coming online. 

Just the other day I noticed that Circle K near the big roundabout on the North End of town now has DC charging stations and this is not unique to just Wenatchee, several Circle K quick stops in the tri-cities also have DC charging stations. This is very good news. A few months ago, I heard that Grant County PUD was going to be installing 2 DC charging stations in the Grand Coulee area. This would be very good news for me since I make at least two trips up there every year. 

Just to put this into perspective, I have a charging station at home, so the only time I ever use a DC charging station is if I’m on a road trip. The route I take on that road trip is dictated by the number of DC charging stations I have access to on the way. 

You may be wondering, why do I put myself through this anxiety about charging? And the truth is It’s not anxiety it’s just planning. On a day-to-day basis, I have no worries about whether or not I’m going to have enough electrons to get me to and from work every day. Making a trip to Seattle, Yakima, the tri-cities or Spokane? No problems. But if I wanted to travel to Portland or beyond. A little planning would be in order. 

Every year that planning gets just a little bit easier. 

Electric vehicle charging stations have doubled in Washington state in 4 years – Axios Seattle
Electric vehicles – Energy & Climate – Axios
“Charging deserts” persist even in EV-crazed cities
America Set EV Sales Record in 2024 – Kelley Blue Book