Credit: (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

Just a decade ago, there were less than 500 chargers nationwide for motorists to recharge their electric vehicles. Nowadays, there are more than 128,000, a number that is poised to grow further with an infusion of $7.5 billion of federal funding to build a national network of charging stations.

But for New Jersey, the growth has been more halting. The state has a goal of electrifying its transportation network by midcentury, yet it ranks only 28th among 50 states with vehicle chargers, according to a new study that suggests it may be an uphill push to achieve the transition to cleaner-running vehicles.

“We need to see electric vehicle charging stations as commonplace as 7-Elevens and Wawas,’’ said Doug O’Malley, director of Environment New Jersey. “You shouldn’t have to hunt to find an EV charging station.’’

The study by CoPilot, an online car-shopping site, found New Jersey has a total of 2,008 electric vehicle chargers — 22.6 for every 100,000 residents and well below the national average of 39.0. The issue is critical as one of the huge hurdles hindering more widespread acceptance of electric vehicles is so-called range anxiety, the fear a car will run out of power before  being refueled.

Deploying charger infrastructure

New Jersey has taken numerous steps to encourage the transition to electric vehicles, including building out its own charging infrastructure. Using data from the U.S. Department of Energy, the CoPilot study calculated the number of electric vehicle-charging ports per capita.

It’s not just the number of chargers that is important, but also the type. Of New Jersey’s 2,008, only 550 are so-called DC fast chargers, which can add 100 to 200 miles of range per 30 minutes of charging. More than 1,400 statewide — and nearly four in five in the United States — are Level 2 chargers, which add about 25 miles of range per hour of charging, suitable for overnight charging at home or the office, but not much help to the motorist on the road anxious to get refueled.

“In order to get to mass adoption (of electric vehicles), we are going to need a high-speed charging network,’’ said Jim Appleton, president of New Jersey Coalition of Automotive Retailers, which represents car dealerships.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law could help build that network, but it is probably not enough, according to advocates like O’Malley. “We need to invest more state dollars to make it easier to charge your EV,’’ he said.

Upgrade the grid

Beyond building the charging infrastructure, Appleton noted the state’s electric utilities need to step up and upgrade the power grid to accommodate the added electric demand as more chargers are added to the system.

His members are planning to invest $140 million over the next two-to-three years to install charging infrastructure at their dealerships to handle the increased interest of the public to purchase EVs, Appleton said.

“There is no question there is a real and very positive acceleration in EV sales,’’ he said, as well as more prospective buyers intending to buy such vehicles. But dealers are encountering delays from utilities in obtaining the upgrades they need to install the equipment, he added.

Still, there is a huge amount of money being invested in New Jersey by the state, utilities and the private sector in building out the infrastructure, according to Pam Frank, CEO of ChargEVC-NJ, an organization pushing for the transition to electric vehicles. Over the next five years, New Jersey will receive $110 million to build its part of the national high-speed charging network, Frank said.

“In a year or 18 months, you will see a lot more fast chargers in New Jersey. In the next two years, we are going to get it done,’’ she said.