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Electric vehicle growth in the United States is hitting new headwinds after slowing sales and charging concerns. The market had seen a streak of year-over-year EV growth for more than a year, but sales have started to contract. Established automakers like Genesis and Volvo have already lost customers to their EV lineups, and are reportedly scaling back those models as a result.

Political uncertainty isn’t helping, either. The current administration has rescinded EV purchase subsidies and vehicle pollution rules, and there are now fewer federal incentives available. However, a new Telemetry report suggests that the biggest challenge to EV adoption could be closer to home—literally.

Is There Room to Plug In?

Consumer surveys have long identified range and charging anxiety as major obstacles to EV adoption. A new market research report from Telemetry Vice President Sam Abuelsamid takes a deeper look at this issue, identifying one critical factor that often gets overlooked: garage clutter.

Fast chargers and charging networks get a lot of attention, but most EVs are still charged at home. AC charging is still prevalent, and data from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) found that an estimated 80 percent of all EV charging uses AC power, the vast majority at single-family residences. The same NREL study found that 42 percent of U.S. homeowners already have access to a level 2 (240-volt) charger by virtue of parking near an outlet at home.

The percentage of EV-owning homeowners able to charge is expected to increase dramatically, up to 68 percent, if more garage space was cleared and parking behavior was changed. According to Abuelsamid, “90 percent of all houses can add a 240 V outlet near where cars could be parked. Parking behavior, namely whether homeowners use a private garage for parking or storage, will likely become a key factor in EV adoption.”

If Americans did indeed start parking in their garages instead of using them as storage space, Telemetry estimates that the number of homes able to charge an EV could increase from 31 million to over 50 million. This number swells to over 72 million if you factor in homes where installing a new charger is physically possible. That’s even higher than Telemetry’s highest estimate for EV penetration in 2035, with anywhere from 33 million to 57 million EVs on U.S. roads.

That said, even if the number of potential chargers is high on paper, it doesn’t mean they are actually usable or ready to be installed. The NREL study found that the number of homes that could potentially support a level 2 charger but would need an electrical system upgrade to do so is close to 34 million. Level 2 chargers demand at least 30 amps of power, meaning some upgrades could be minor while others require full panel replacements. This will cost homeowners thousands of dollars.

EV Buyers Don’t Want to Pay to Park

The barrier to home charging in multi-dwelling units (condos, apartments, townhomes) is even more acute for the 23 percent of Americans who live in them. In these homes, EV owners can rarely install a charger without the permission of their landlord or homeowners association, which is not guaranteed.

The cost is also much higher, and more complex. Upgrading a condo or co-op board’s electrical panel is not a simple process, and may cost millions of dollars. Wiring must also be installed, which is more difficult when shared spaces are located a long way from buildings’ power supply. The other major difference is that renters and co-op owners do not receive any government, utility, or municipal subsidies for charger installation.

According to Telemetry, around 1 million U.S. EV drivers already live in multi-family homes, but only 11 percent park close enough to an outlet to charge their cars. While some states are requiring that 20–25 percent of parking spaces in new residential buildings be EV-ready, Telemetry estimates there will be only 6.7–11.4 million charging-capable parking spaces in multi-family homes in 2035. This number will likely fall short of demand.

Public Charging Is Only a Partial Solution

In many cases, that means public charging is critical. Telemetry projects that between 11.7 million and 14.3 million EV drivers who live in houses will still use public charging in 2035, while another 7.8 million to 8.1 million EV owners in multi-family dwellings will also be dependent on public chargers.

Meeting this demand will require between 523,000 and 586,000 DC fast chargers, as well as 1.5 million to 1.6 million level 2 chargers across the country. However, such rapid expansion will not be without challenges. Utilities are already under pressure to expand charging capacity for both residential and commercial use, and some are already struggling to keep up with power demand from data centers, whose voracious appetites for new AI compute have recently grown 800 percent year-over-year.

EVs in the U.S. Have a Long Road Ahead

The future of electric vehicles in America may not be as rosy as it seems. While the number of homes that could be ready for EV charging is in the millions, garage clutter, the cost of electrical upgrades, and the pain of multifamily living all present significant headwinds to adoption. The rollout of public charging stations, while happening, may not meet demand in the next decade.

One thing, at least, is clear: if EVs are to succeed in the U.S., it will depend as much on clearing out people’s garages as on the whims of the government and automakers.