Which countries and states lead Europe and the US in the HERE-SBD EV Index 2025?

Norway and Luxembourg take the top spot for electric vehicle charging infrastructure among European countries assessed, reports the HERE-SBD EV Index 2025. In the United States, Delaware retains its lead position. As EV charging infrastructure advances globally, a handful of regions are achieving enviable progress, while others are falling short when it comes to EV uptake and public charging rollout.

The findings and insights come from HERE Technologies’ and SBD Automotive’s annual EV Index, which uses HERE proprietary data as well as global government data sources to track and measure the movement in EV growth and public charging infrastructure in major global markets.

EV sales are projected to make up one in four cars sold worldwide by the end of 2025—underscoring the critical importance of expanding and improving EV charging infrastructure to support public need across regions.

Now in its third edition, the annual HERE-SBD EV Index measures and compares global progress in EV adoption and infrastructure development. It’s structured around four consumer-centric metrics, each contributing up to 25 points for a maximum possible score of 100 for each region to determine rank.

The EV Index measures four key metrics

1. How far do you need to drive to find a charger?
   The number of public EV chargers per length of road

2. How quickly can you charge?
   The average power capacity of public EV chargers

3. How many battery electric vehicles (BEVs) are on the road versus internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles?
   The BEV fleet share

4. What is the likelihood of finding an unoccupied charger?
   The ratio of public chargers to BEVs on the road

“This four-metric index concept doesn't set a single target,” explains Robert Fisher, senior manager EMEA at SBD Automotive. “Rather, it pits every country against every other country, every state against every other state. It makes them compete against themselves to get to first place. We’re looking at it from the consumer perspective of what charging looks like in that region.”

The HERE-SBD EV Index 2025 reveals that while both the U.S. and Europe posted further infrastructure gains, the pace eased this year. The U.S. added 37,000 charge points – a 19% increase – driven by rising public and private investment as it enters the early stages of mass deployment. Europe, a more mature market, added 245,000 public charge points – more public chargers than the U.S. has installed in total – representing a 27% increase.

Europe’s evolving EV landscape

Norway reclaimed the top spot in the 2025 EV Index after briefly slipping to second place in 2024. Norway leads the world in the ratio of fully electric to ICE vehicles, with BEVs accounting for 22% of all vehicles on its roads. Even more telling is that fully electric models captured 84% of new car registrations in the country from June 2024 to June 2025.

“Norway has given the rest of the world a blueprint for successfully replacing an ICE fleet with EV,” said Fisher, which involves a well-tuned interplay of infrastructure roll-out that keeps pace with the speed of EV adoption.”

The EV Index ranking hinges on four equally weighted metrics that are intricately related, so even modest shifts can sway the leaderboard. For example, Norway’s drop to second place in 2024 was sparked by a slight reduction in its ratio of BEVs to public chargers—an impact almost offset by higher average charger power but not enough to stay on top, allowing Denmark to take the crown last year.

In this year’s index, Denmark slipped two spots, led by a massive surge in BEV adoption of 236% which created a relative decline in the number of public chargers per BEV, allowing Norway to reclaim first place. Yet, Norway’s low number of chargers per BEV (battery electric vehicle) suggests that future gains by competitors could once again tip the balance.

A deeper dive into the index reveals further interesting findings. Since last year, Luxembourg, Denmark, Netherlands, and Belgium each added approximately one charger for every five kilometers of roadway, significantly more than the other countries. Latvia, Norway, Lithuania, and Finland all increased their average charging power by close to 15kW, a much bigger bump than other countries.

The greatest overall improvement within Europe is posted by Lithuania, which climbs from 23^rd place to ninth, spurred by a large increase in the number of charge points per BEV and the previously mentioned rise in average power of charging stations.

Latvia also gained momentum, rising from 17^th to 11^th place. “These are some regions that you wouldn't expect to make a whole lot of movement simply because the economy isn’t quite as strong there, so it’s not necessarily their top priority.”

Fisher adds that private investment in public charging in some of these Eastern European regions is helping to bolster their index scores. “If we look at Latvia specifically, there’s a lot of highway charger installations from OEM-backed charging providers.”

Meanwhile, Belgium moved from seventh to fifth place thanks to a two-percentage point increase in EV fleet share versus ICE vehicles. But lower average charging station power has held it back.

“Europe is a great example of how each country approaches charging infrastructure in a different way and also exists at a different point in time in the maturity of their EV market,” adds Fisher.

For instance, the index shows that Malta (last in league and rank) and the Netherlands (ranking fourth) have a very high percentage of slower AC charging versus faster DC.

But this is for very different reasons, explains Fisher. “The Netherlands is one of the most mature EV markets in Europe, having more than a decade of strong government support,” he added. “This led to early proliferation of AC charging points before DC charging had been standardized. Meanwhile, Malta has very few DC chargers, because it is a small island country where fast charging would rarely be beneficial.”

The EV Index also finds that the average number of chargers per road length is strongly correlated with GDP per capita. Wealthy nations like Norway and Switzerland have a high number of chargers per length of road. But Ireland, which also has a high GDP, ranks fifth from last in chargers per road length making it an outlier. Further, a low number of chargers per BEV has earned Ireland one of the worst scores in the European Union.

“We can fairly confidently say that Ireland is not installing enough chargers for public charging,” adds Fisher. EV sales fell substantially in Ireland in 2023/2024, partly due to a reduction in government incentives, though it is now back on track for a record-breaking year in 2025, which further highlights the lack of public charging infrastructure.

For the first time, the EV Index includes a “balance” metric to distinguish regions with relatively uniform scores across all four metrics from those that show disparity across any of the four. An imbalance across these metrics shows that a region’s EV adoption and infrastructure rollout aren’t moving in tandem, which can undermine its ability to meet public charging demand unless both efforts are better aligned. The most balanced countries in Europe are Austria, Slovenia and France, while the least balanced are the Netherlands, Greece and Norway.

United States EV outlook

In the United States, Delaware retained its top spot in the index, though other states – notably Washington D.C. (ranked second again) and New Jersey (ranked third, rising from ninth in 2024) – are closing the gap due to Delaware’s drop in average charging power and decreasing number of chargers per BEV. Rural areas in Delaware remain underserved for charging.

However, the index shows that Delaware’s BEV fleet share climbed to 2.6%, supported by generous state and federal discounts of as much as $10,000. But federal incentives ending in September 2025 may slow adoption.

New Jersey and New York entered the top five ranked US states, marking the rise of an East Coast EV corridor. Driven by coordinated public and private investment, this effort has prioritized the build-out of fast-charging DC stations along Interstate 95—one of the nation’s most populated and heavily traveled highways—allowing drivers to journey by EV from Boston, through the New York and Philadelphia metropolitan areas, all the way to Washington, D.C.

This effort contributes to New Jersey’s leap from ninth to third, fueled largely by a massive jump in average charge power. However, New Jersey ranks second-to-last in chargers per BEV, ahead of only Hawaii. With a significant growth in BEV fleet share from 3% to 1% as compared to ICE vehicles, New Jersey will need to expand its network of public chargers to keep pace with the rapidly growing demand for BEVs.

New York’s two-spot jump to fourth place was propelled by its charger to BEV ratio. The state now boasts one charger for every 9 vehicles.

Massachusetts was able to retain a spot in the top five. Only one metric, chargers per BEV, declined compared to last year, and just slightly. This occurred in conjunction with an impressive 46% increase in BEV fleet share.

Some states in the US showed encouraging increases. Kentucky climbed from 45^th place in 2024 to 28^th in 2025 thanks to an impressive increase in charging power, averaging a 33 kW increase per charge point, as well as increasing the number chargers per BEV.

New Mexico was also a mid-table star performer, rising from 34^th place to joint 15th due to the installation of 300 additional chargers, as well as increasing share of chargers per BEV and number of charge points per road length.

Meanwhile, West Virginia, fell year-over-year by 24 spots from 18^th place in 2024 to 42^nd, as one of only two states to have decreasing average charger power and also because of its minimal fleet electrification.

An early mover, California has the largest charging network in the U.S, and the state-leading number of BEVs in comparison to ICE cars, with fully electric cars making up 23% of sales since the last index and a total of 5.1% of cars on its roads. However, it also has a very low number of public chargers per BEVs, and the state's goals for future EV adoption create a constant demand for more charging options.

Compared to Europe, the United States is falling short in BEV uptake and charging infrastructure. “There's pretty big gap in the maturity of the two regions,” adds Fisher. “But there are nuances. We need to keep in mind that in the US, more people are likely to have a private home, more likely to have access to private off-street parking, which means private charging will play a larger role in the US than it will in Europe.”

In the US, the three most balanced states (those that have the least disparity between their results), are Alaska, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina while Washington D.C., North Dakota and Wyoming are the least balanced.

“This year’s EV Index highlights where infrastructure is falling short of consumer expectations and where coordinated action is most needed,” said Christopher Handley, vice president and business unit head, HERE Technologies.

“The third edition of the EV Index shows how consumer views and policy decisions continue to shape the global EV and infrastructure landscape,” added Fisher. “The findings also make clear that current efforts are not sufficient to meet most regional electrification ambitions, underscoring the need for stronger policies and more proactive product strategies.”

See the full HERE-SBD EV Index 2025 here.

Discover how HERE’s suite of tools can help you optimize EV routing and charging.