Washington has an online tool to help you find a charger

It's no big secret I drive an electric car. I'm not a big ecology buff or anything like that, I just like the way the car performs, and I find that in Chelan County it's much more cost effective to pay a little bit for electricity than it is to pay a lot for gasoline. 

So, imagine my surprise and joy when I got an e-mail from our afternoon guy Chris Hansen telling me about a new online tool to help entrepreneurs find places to install chargers and me to find charger locations In Washington state. (Thanks, Chris.) 

According to QHarolde.com,
‘The Electric Vehicle Mapping and Planning Tool (EV-MAP), developed by the Washington State Department of Transportation in collaboration with the Washington State Department of Commerce, provides an interactive map with access to more than 100 public data sets.’ 

There are other online tools out there for this purpose mostly targeted for EV users but typically, they're more focused on a specific brand of charging system. Just on my smartphone alone I have apps for Electrify America, Charge Point, Charge Hub, EV Go, Plug Share and Tesla. I'm honestly not very thrilled with the large number of apps I have on my phone right now. I would like to whittle that down to the ones that really benefit me. So, I'm curious to see how good this Washington state charger map will work for the EV user. 

It hasn't happened yet, but sooner or later Tesla charging stations are also going to open for my car. Originally, Tesla stations were supposed to open for Kia drivers at the end of January. I'm looking at the calendar wondering what happened. 

One interesting statistic that I had not realized is that Washington state ranks top in the country for EV adoption in 2024. (I was sure it was California.) Between 2023 and 2024 the number of electric cars sold and registered in the state of Washington went up by 34%. More than 20% of the cars sold in Washington state last year were electric, not “electrified” which is a term Toyota likes to use for their hybrid cars as of this writing, they still only sell one full battery electric cars. (I'm told that is changing.) 

I've had a chance to look at the map a little bit and I must say it's good to see it's there. But there are some other interactive maps that can be found that are actually more informative. I think we will just have to give it a little time to Let more charging station information populate. 

One of the best and most informative maps for charging stations in the United States can be found at Plug-In North Central Washington  

That website will also give you lots of information about finding the electric car that you might want to buy, other ways that you can make your home carbon neutral, and special events that are coming up in Wenatchee, for instance they have something planned for Earth Day at The Pybus public market.
Launch of new online tool supports electric vehicle partners in Washington - Quad City Herald
EV Mapping and Planning Tool Site