Texas drivers might have noticed more electric vehicle charging stations popping up as major car manufacturers eye the state’s vast landscape — but it’s unclear if enthusiasm for EVs is keeping pace among consumers.
Luxury car company Mercedes-Benz, with partner MN8 Energy, has opened more than 100 high-speed charging stations at nine Buc-ee’s travel centers throughout the state, with about 100 more in the planning and construction phase.
It’s just one of the major companies that view the state’s sparse charging infrastructure as an opportunity, rather than a barrier, to getting Texans to buy into EVs.
“While we see a large number of EVs driving around, the public charging infrastructure is lagging behind those of other states,” said Heiko Schmidt, vice president of network strategy and monetization at Mercedes-Benz.
“What we see is there’s just around 13 EV chargers for every 100,000 residents in the state. That’s that’s not a lot.”
That “range anxiety” — fear about running out of juice before finding a public charger — has often been cited as a reason why more Texans are not adopting electric vehicles.
Most charging happens at home, but some EVs get just over 100 miles on a full charge — making longer trips tricky without a reliable charger network. It can also be difficult for EV drivers who live in apartments or don’t have the capacity to charge at home for other reasons.
Texas is investing $400 million to expand statewide charger access through the five-year Texas Electric Vehicle Charging Plan passed in September 2023. But the private sector hopes it can make progress more quickly to fill in the gaps.
“We realize that public charging is a pain point for many, it is an essential part of EV ownership, but it is also a purchase barrier that we still see today because folks are concerned about the reliability of chargers [and] about the level of experience that they’re getting when they when they do charge,” Mercedes’ Schmidt said.
The company is looking at metropolitan sites and corridor charging along major interstates to place their 400-kilowatt chargers, which are operated and maintained by Mercedes at partner sites. Tesla drivers can also access Mercedes’ charging network with an adapter.
Ford has expanded its own network of chargers — both company-built and third-party — which is available to customers nationwide through its Blue Oval charging network on the Ford app. That includes nearly 10,000 in Texas, a number Ford expects to grow.
“Texas is a very, very key market for Ford Motor Company,” said Jim Gawron, director of charging strategy at Ford. “It’s our top state actually, for F-series sales.”
That includes the company’s newest electric truck, the Ford F-150 Lightning, with two more electric trucks expected in 2027.
Hybrid and electric vehicles represented 15% of Ford’s sales last quarter, a number that’s expected to continue to grow, according to Gawron.
Nationwide, EV sales grew in 2024, though that gain wasn’t as high as expected, according to automotive information company Edmunds.
“We’ve seen clear industry growth over the past five years, and really the question from many people is no longer will electric vehicles be a part of the drivetrain mix, but is adoption going to accelerate? And that’s a pretty big change in how we think about electric vehicles from even three or four years ago,” said Corey Cantor, research director at the Zero Emissions Transportation Association.
Less clear, however, is whether consumer excitement about EVs in Texas matches manufacturers’ optimism. According to Gawron, Ford’s EV sales in the state grew 46% in 2024.
While statewide electric vehicle registrations more than tripled from 2022 to 2023, according to data from DFW Clean Cities, they dropped almost 11% in 2024 over the previous year.
Meanwhile, a 2024 AAA survey found enthusiasm is waning nationwide, with 63% of American consumers saying they are unlikely to ever buy a fully electric vehicle, up from 53% in 2023.
A third of respondents cited an inability to install an EV charger at home as one factor influencing their decision. For those drivers, it means missing out on the “set it and forget it” charging that’s frequently cited as a perk of EV ownership.
Ford EV owners with TXU Energy can also take advantage of free home charging in off-peak times, Gawron said — unlike those using public charging stations.
“It’s not about range anxiety, it’s about charger trust,” Dallas resident Bennet Barrier said. “Until infrastructure is normalized and visible just like gas stations, EV adoption will stall here no matter what incentives get thrown around.”
That desire for a stronger public network is in line with what industry experts are seeing, according to ZETA’s Cantor.
“If people feel more comfortable with their public charging network, they’re going to be more comfortable with that electric vehicle adoption,” Cantor said.
Still, companies say being strategic about where they install public ports can make the charging experience nearly as seamless as home charging. Alongside Buc-ees, Mercedes is installing chargers at Starbucks and Simon Malls locations across the country.
“Charging should really fade into the background,” Schmidt said. “So we’re trying to build in locations that consumers are already visiting, whether that’s the grocery store, whether that’s a coffee shop, whether that’s quick serve restaurants.”
Those who live closest to chargers view EVs more positively even when accounting for factors like partisan identification and community type, a 2024 Pew Research report found.
With Texas’ ballooning population, companies in the EV space say they’ll continue to invest in making charging as ubiquitous as filling up in the Lone Star State.
“Texas will remain an essential part of our story in the U.S.,” Schmidt said.
“Overall, we believe that Texas is in the driver’s seat for kind of becoming the transportation hub of tomorrow, and as we’re trying to build a network, not just for today but also for the needs of tomorrow, Texas is extremely interesting for us.”
