EV charging infrastructure remains a core focus in major pushes for electric vehicle adoption. California is leading the way, encouraging EV buyers through tax rebates and credits, while many East Coast states appear to be lagging behind. What will it take for the East Coast to catch up?

Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI) CEO and President Matt Petersen joins Yahoo Finance Live to give his take on what is holding the East Coast back in EV adoption — and what could change that.

Petersen says to expect an “acceleration of charging infrastructure installation” due to the implementation of public-private partnerships and federal funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Petersen notes the expansion of charging infrastructure is not limited to coastal areas, with plans to cover the East Coast, Southeast, and Middle America aiming to make electric vehicle charging more accessible and appealing to a broader audience. Petersen is hopeful that with this expansion more people will choose EVs and “never want to go back.”

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Video Transcript

RACHELLE AKUFFO: And Matt, obviously, California, as you mentioned, they're ahead of the game when it comes to adopting this. But when it comes to say, you know, some of the states on the East Coast and the public private partnerships, how key is that going to be to really selling that point when it comes to some of these states?

MATT PETERSEN: Well, you're going to see an acceleration of charging infrastructure, installation, as the federal money from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law as well as the incentives and for vehicles in the Inflation Reduction Act, as well as also upgrades that are part of the Inflation Reduction Act. You can get-- if you want to put a charger in your home, you might have to do a panel upgrade. You can have-- most of those upgrades will be eligible for a 30% tax credit from the federal government now along with the charging infrastructure. The solar system, if you want to put in a solar system and battery storage.

So we're going to see this money be really begin to work its way through, meaning that we're going to see these chargers in more and more places in the state plans from the $5 billion in charging that were made available to the states for infrastructure, for charging infrastructure, primarily along freeways and highways. That's making its way. So we're going to see a surge in charging infrastructure in the East Coast, the Southeast, middle of America. It's not just going to be the coasts that are going to see charging infrastructure.

And as we see more people get excited-- and once you're in an EV, you never want to go back. You-- if you pass up a gas station, it's a phenomenal experience. And it's a phenomenal experience to drive an EV, let alone the environmental benefits, the lack of a tailpipe, and all the other attributes that help fight the climate crisis that comes with driving an EV.