- calendar_today August 14, 2025
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EVs in the U.S. are coming under new pressure after months of disappointing sales and a range of other adoption headwinds. Sales growth has turned negative for the first time in over a year after months of sequential growth. Electric vehicle sales are falling in the U.S., a new trend that’s just beginning. Car makers such as Genesis and Volvo have already felt buyers abandon their EVs, with both companies looking to downsize their EV portfolios in response.
Recent federal policy is also not helping, with the current administration scaling back both subsidies and vehicle pollution regulations, leaving potential buyers with fewer federal purchase incentives than before. A new report from auto industry researcher Sam Abuelsamid of Telemetry suggests there is another headwind for EVs that is less political and more… garage-y.
Abuelsamid’s new report delves into why U.S. consumers are so worried about charging as a barrier to EV ownership. In a recent survey conducted by Telemetry, lack of charging was identified by Americans as the primary reason for not buying an EV, and a separate survey found that 64 percent of potential EV buyers said public charging concerns were a significant or very significant impediment to their purchase.
Analyzing why so many Americans are so concerned about EV charging, Abuelsamid zeroes in on a key point: the car parks in their garage. While the headline-grabbing public fast charging network has attracted the most attention, most EV charging today and in the near future will happen at home. It’s estimated that 80 percent of all EV charging takes place with AC power (charging at home, in the office, at a local store or other destination), with a large portion of that on single-family home sites. In fact, according to a recent study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), 42 percent of single-family home owners in the U.S. are already parked near a level 2 (240-volt) capable outlet and able to charge today.
If homeowners parked in their garage and decluttered their garage, that share could increase dramatically. According to Abuelsamid, “90 percent of all single family houses can add a 240 V outlet near where the car would park. But of course, parking behavior, namely whether homeowners use a private garage for parking or storage, will likely become a key factor in EV adoption.”
The number of single family homes able to charge an EV jumps from 31 million if homeowners clear out their garage and park in it, to more than 50 million once the homes with feasible wiring are included. This 50-72 million potential for charging at single-family homes dwarfs even the Telemetry high estimate for 2035 EV penetration: 33 million to 57 million vehicles.
The number is only on paper, however. In reality, the same NREL study estimates that 34 million homes are in need of significant electrical upgrades before level 2 charger installation. That’s because a level 2 charger needs at least a 30-amp circuit feeding a 240-volt outlet, which in turn means major rewiring and electrical panel replacement in most pre-existing homes, at significant cost to the homeowner.
“Upfront charger and home electrical system installation costs quickly eat into any fuel savings resulting from the switch to an EV,” noted Abuelsamid. “Making homes more EV-ready has been one of the main counterarguments to claims that electric vehicles are out of reach for low- to moderate-income households. But if charger and electrical system upgrades are not included in the purchase price of the home or at the time of charger installation, most households won’t be in the position to take advantage of lower-cost fixed-rate loans or grants that are available in many areas.”
Multi-family housing (apartments, condos, townhomes) is home to 23 percent of U.S. households, or 70 million Americans. Unlike the single-family home sector, individual EV owners have little control over the installation of chargers in multi-family homes, instead having to seek the approval of a landlord or property manager or condo co-op board. While many will eventually come around, this approval is not guaranteed.
Installation costs can be a significant challenge as well. A typical 2-charger level 2 unit for a co-op, for example, may require a complete electrical panel replacement costing millions. Wiring from the new electrical panel to far-flung parking spots is more work (cost), and because they are renters, multi-family residents are often ineligible for local or utility incentives to help with the initial cost.
Already home to around 1 million EV drivers, multi-family housing only has 11 percent of potential charging spaces currently within a car’s charging cable length of an outlet. Some states have already mandated 20-25 percent of parking spaces must be EV-ready in new multi-family housing construction, but even this may only create 6.7 million to 11.4 million total charging-capable spaces in multi-family dwellings by 2035, Telemetry says, a total still below the projected demand for charging-capable spaces in multi-family housing.
Public charging will also not be a panacea. Telemetry estimates that between 11.7 million and 14.3 million EV drivers who own single-family homes will still use public charging in 2035, while an additional 7.8 million to 8.1 million EV owners living in multifamily residences will also use public stations. To meet this total demand, the U.S. would need between 523,000 and 586,000 DC fast chargers installed nationwide, as well as another 1.5 million to 1.6 million level 2 chargers.
That’s not an insignificant number, especially with power utilities already feeling strain from new AI data centers and their impact on demand for power generation and distribution resources, vying with public charging buildouts for these resources at the same time as charger installation and deployment work.
While EVs have been enjoying a good ride in the U.S. in recent years, a combination of many factors is threatening to hit the brakes. While up to 72 million homes in the U.S. have the potential to support EV charging, messy garages, high electrical upgrade costs, and the second set of challenges found in multifamily housing (condos, apartments, townhomes) are slowing the rate of adoption. Expansion of the public charging network will help, but is not a silver bullet; demand could easily outstrip the public infrastructure in the next decade.
For now, the one thing is for sure: the future of EVs in America could hinge as much on homeowners’ garages as it does on government policy or automaker plans.
