EV charging prices vary from state to state. Here's where Florida ranks

Electric vehicle drivers in Florida and nationwide are feeling the growing pains of the nation's charging infrastructure expansion.

Why it matters: Inconsistent charging prices across states, faulty chargers and fights over who's in charge of building them are exhausting drivers.

The big picture: Charging an electric vehicle costs three times more at a public charging site in West Virginia than in Nebraska.

• That gap suggests companies are still figuring out how to price an EV top-off, using data gathered by Stable Auto, an EV charger software developer, Axios Pro: Climate Deals' Alan Neuhauser reports.

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Zoom in: It costs an average of $0.45 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) to charge an electric car at a public charging station in Florida.

• That's on par with the national average.

Context: A typical EV with 300 miles of range usually takes about 75-100 kWh to go from empty to full.

The big gap in prices suggests something is amiss, Stable argues.

• The older a charging location, for example, the closer it hews to $0.40 to $0.50.

• Gasoline prices also differ across state lines, but not as greatly as EV charging rates.

Plus: The charging process still isn't easy. In a 2023 J.D. Power survey, 24% of Florida EV drivers said public charging stations were "unreliable."

Between the lines: The push to install more chargers hasn't guaranteed their effectiveness.

• Florida has the second-most charging stations in the nation after fast-charging infrastructure grew nationally by 16% in the second half of 2023 — and more are coming now that states can use federal funds to grow their charging network.

• But the way those chargers work with different car brands varies. Tesla, which has the most reliable superchargers, is just starting to open its network to other brands, though adaptors are required to plug in.

What we're watching: A bill sitting on the governor's desk, sponsored by a Tampa Republican, would take EV charger regulation power away from local governments and give it to the Department of Agriculture.

That means rules already established in Largo and 11 other Florida cities that require developers to include EV charging stations in their projects would become moot.