California’s next phase of EV charging reaches well beyond highway fast chargers, into apartment properties, workplaces and fleet depots. The California Energy Commission (CEC) released its third AB 2127 charging infrastructure assessment on October 16, projecting a need for 478,000 public and limited-access light-duty ports by 2030 under its California Electrification Goals scenario.
That scenario assumes 6.8 million light-duty EVs on the road and includes 53,000 direct-current (DC) fast-charging ports. The CEC counted 224,438 public and limited-access ports installed as of June 30, 2026, which it describes as nearly halfway to the 2030 need. The count leaves out an estimated 1.18 million chargers at homes with one to four units.
Buildings and Depots Carry Much of the Work
Large multifamily properties account for 136,000 of the projected ports. Medium- and heavy-duty vehicles would need more than 54,000 ports to support 93,000 vehicles, buses included, and more than 43,000 of those ports would sit at private depots. For property owners and fleet operators, charging becomes a question of electrical capacity and site planning as much as equipment.
A depot’s needs depend on how many vehicles return at once, how long they stay parked and how much energy each needs before leaving. Apartments and workplaces see different parking patterns and access rules, which shape charger selection, installation design and the value of managed charging. Port counts alone cannot establish a site’s demand. Facilities teams have to turn vehicle schedules and charging power into a load profile before sizing service, the same kind of energy access question now shaping site selection.
A Lower-Adoption Scenario Cuts the Total
A second scenario, which the CEC calls Federal Obstacles to EV Adoption, models 4.4 million light-duty EVs and about 342,000 public and limited-access ports in 2030. Both figures are modeled needs, not funded projects or equipment orders. Policy shifts elsewhere, including states that have paused EV mandates, show how quickly adoption assumptions can move, so individual investments still need testing against local demand, utility requirements and expected use.
Workforce Estimates Run Through 2035
The assessment estimates up to 276,000 job-years between 2026 and 2035 to manufacture, install and maintain light-duty and medium- and heavy-duty ports. A job-year is one person employed for one year, so the figure does not describe permanent positions. On the same day, the governor’s office announced $44.4 million to train 49,000 new apprentices through 131 programs. The package spans trades, health care, education and technology and is not dedicated to EV charging, though it includes wirepersons training on power, lighting, controls and electrical systems.
For facilities and fleet budgets, the near-term work is deciding which sites need capacity studies and utility coordination first. Statewide projections set the scale, while site conditions decide which projects proceed and bring their own charging development challenges. The state has also described an updated Zero-Emission Vehicle Market Development Strategy built around vehicles, infrastructure, end users and workforce. Its strategy page still lists that update as in development.
