Rhode Island is steadily plugging into the electric vehicle future – but it’s doing so against a backdrop of growing national hesitation.
While the state continues to invest in EV infrastructure and policies to drive adoption, enthusiasm across the U.S. is cooling.
A recent AAA survey shows only 18% of Americans are likely to buy an EV for their next car, down from 23% just two years ago, with concerns over cost, charging access and range still raising doubts. Another 63% said they are “unlikely or very unlikely” to choose an EV for their next car purchase.
It’s the lowest vote of buyer confidence in EVs since 2019. As the rest of the country taps the brakes, can Rhode Island keep its EV momentum alive, or will national trends pull the plug?
Michelle Masse, general manager and vice president of the Paul Masse dealerships, said that, if anything, she’s seeing even more interest among local consumers in buying EVs.
“We’ve embraced selling electric cars on our lots since 2017, and even more so today,” said Masse, whose company has one lot in East Providence and two in South Kingstown. “We’ve had plenty of reasons to be super positive about our involvement in the state’s EV business.”
The sales figures seem to support Masse’s claim. Electric vehicle sales in the state grew by 69% from model year 2022 to 2023, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists. The following year saw slower growth, but with EV sales increasing by 10% compared with the previous year, according to the International Energy Agency.
Meanwhile, the state has seen a nearly 400% increase in car registrations for electric vehicles since 2020, according to the R.I. Office of Energy Resources and R.I. Department of Environmental Management. There were barely 3,000 EVs registered in the state before 2020. As of May 2025, there are nearly 15,000.
“We’ve seen a great uptick in EV registrations over the last few years, and that remains just as true in recent months,” said OER Acting Commissioner Christopher Kearns.
Kearns said there is good reason for the state’s increase in EV use. Rhode Island has shown a strong commitment to electric vehicles through state-funded infrastructure projects, he said.
In fact, Rhode Island was the first state in the country to finish Phase 1 of the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program initiative. That phase focused on building eight fast chargers and six dual-port Level 2 stations along Interstate 95 and was completed in 2024.
Phase 2, launched late last year but not yet completed, will expand access statewide with $10 million in funding for more community-based charging stations, especially in underserved areas. The federal allocation to Rhode Island for the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program was $22.9 million.
The state currently has 828 publicly accessible electric vehicle charging stations, with 42 in the works to be installed in locations such as Tiverton, Little Compton, Cranston and Providence.
Yet despite industry progress, the percentage of U.S. drivers who believe most cars will be electric within the next decade has dropped sharply, from 40% in 2022 to just 23% in 2025, according to the AAA survey.
This lack of national confidence could pose a challenge to Rhode Island’s goal of achieving 100% zero-emission vehicle sales by 2035.
Adding to Rhode Island’s challenges in meeting that goal is President Donald Trump’s recent efforts to withdraw as much funding and support for electric vehicle infrastructure as possible.
Earlier this year, Trump revoked the 2030 target for 50% electric vehicle sales, citing concerns over consumer choice and economic impact.
Meanwhile, Rhode Island is requiring all new car sales to be electric by 2035 as part of its strategy to cut transportation emissions – the state’s largest source of climate pollution. The mandate, based on California’s clean car standards, looks to ramp up EV sales starting in 2026 and is key to meeting Rhode Island’s broader climate targets.
“I don’t know if 2035 is necessarily realistic,” Masse said. “I don’t see how the state’s new car sales could be 100% electric. For us, it’s good to have a mix.”
The Trump administration has also directed agencies to pause federal funding for EV charging infrastructure and is considering ending tax credits for EV purchases.
That could hinder Rhode Island’s goals to expand EV charging infrastructure and the state’s DRIVE EV program, which offers rebates of up to $1,500 for new and $1,000 for used electric vehicles purchased or leased from licensed in-state dealers.
Although the rebate program is funded mostly by the state and functions independently of federal initiatives, it is still influenced by the wider national policy landscape, according to state officials. A decline in federal support could present significant challenges that the state may find difficult to address on its own.
For now, Rhode Island’s progress seems to be unaffected by national EV trends and federal politics – but that could change if Washington, D.C., doesn’t shift course, Kearns said.
“Our state [EV] rebate programs will continue to run throughout the year while we await federal funding and tax credit debates in D.C.,” he said. “That funding plays a major role in these rebate programs we are looking to continue to pursue.”
May we ask you rewrite this article with actual facts presented and not fossil fuel “feelings” interest money? The article claims that EV sales are waning yet sales increased almost 10% in 2024 compared to 2023 and have shown an increase of at least 7% monthly on a YOY basis so far in 2025. This fact is true and striking when compared to the massive decrease auto sales of at least 9-10% in this country. Is it possible for us to ask for a rewrite of this article to not reflect Exxon-Mobile’s feelings and instead give your readers, no PAYING subscription members, the actual facts?