Nebraska, Louisiana, Iowa, and Arkansas have regulations that make it difficult for car manufacturers to sell EVs directly to consumers. Electric vehicle manufacturers like Tesla rely on a direct-to-consumer sales model that excludes dealers as the go-between, saving consumers' and manufacturers' expenses. Prohibitions on direct sales make purchasing EVs difficult for consumers, especially by making the process more expensive than direct purchases.

By contrast, California, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Oregon score as some of the most EV-friendly states in the country. These states also have high urbanization rates, with California at 94.2% urbanization, New Jersey at 93.8%, Connecticut at 86.3%, and Oregon at 80.5%.

EVs tend to be popular in big cities and urban areas that tend to have denser charging networks, shorter commute times, and local EV adoption and use incentives.

However, rural areas' lower population density disincentivizes companies from building extensive charging networks as in urban areas. The insufficient EV infrastructure has been a critical barrier to EV adoption in the rural parts of the U.S.

States with large swaths of rural areas make up some of the least EV-friendly states. Some of the lowest EV-friendly scores in the nation belong to South Dakota with 57.2% urbanization, Nebraska with 73%, Louisiana with 71.5%, Iowa with 63.2%, and Arkansas with 55.5%.

Residents of rural areas also take on longer commutes and travel more often than their urban counterparts, contributing to consumer anxiety about vehicle range and the need to make stops for charging.

California, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Connecticut, and Oregon are the top five EV-friendly states in the U.S. In addition to the $7,500 tax credit available for EV buyers in all states, these states offer additional EV tax credits ranging from $4,000 to $7,500. They also have high numbers of registered EVs.

The top five least EV-friendly states, South Dakota, Nebraska, Louisiana, Iowa, and Arkansas, have no additional EV tax credits, few EV charging stations per vehicle, and few registered EVs.

Story editing by Shannon Luders-Manuel. Additional editing by Kelly Glass. Copy editing by Tim Bruns and Kristen Wegrzyn.