"As federal incentives for electric vehicles are drying up, will the state still expand its fledgling charging network?"
"Uber driver Rosie Ramirez’s electric vehicle can go some 260 miles at full charge, which should be plenty on Oʻahu. But that mileage is quickly eaten up as Ramirez ferries passengers around the island, and she’s learned the hard way that she can’t count on EV chargers to be available for a top off.
Ramirez said she starts planning where to charge once the range is down to about half, and even then she has to be prepared for chargers to be out of commission or for other drivers to have beaten her there.
“It’s very frustrating,” she said last week as she sat on a shaded bench next to her 2023 Chevy Bolt at Dole Plantation and waited 45 minutes for it to charge.
Ramirez’s fear of being stranded far from home is shared by many electric vehicle owners. Hawaiʻi has one of the country’s highest rates of EV ownership, but state officials have struggled to get enough charging stations online to support them."
Ben Angarone reports for Honolulu Civil Beat November 11, 2025.
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