Everything you need to know about charging your new electric car, from where to go to what you'll pay

• Critical to the future of electric cars is the cost, and convenience of plugging them in.
• These factors will influence whether drivers opt for the cars over gas-powered ones.

As the world's cars become electric, figuring out how to charge them will be key.

The electric car charging infrastructure market is expected to reach more than $207.5 billion by 2030, according to Guidehouse Insights, and that means new technologies and companies will continue to pop up.

They're racing to answer the many charging questions out there: Where can I charge? How much does it cost? How long does it take? What if something doesn't work?

At Insider, we've covered the electric charging industry from every angle. We've looked at the charging options available and in the works. We've looked at what tech exists and what areas could use more development. We've talked to investors about the players in the space to watch. And we've walked potential electric car buyers through some of the technologies that could make charging their car much, much easier.

Read more about the state of electric car charging below.

How EV charging fits in your lifestyle

As prospective EV-buyers consider going electric, the charging experience is weighed heavily.

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How much you should expect to pay to charge an electric car

The best ways to find charging stations for your electric vehicle

Plugging in, or not at all

From traditional charging infrastructure to wireless charging and everything in between, innovators are racing to provide drivers with the next best way to juice up.

It's not just drivers that face challenges with charging; companies and groups that are changing their fleets over to electric need to have infrastructure that can handle their needs, too. And while some of these innovations won't be available for years to come, it's important to know what's in the works.

Read more:

GM's building its own kind of Tesla Supercharger network — and it's using car dealers as its secret weapon

Automakers need way more plug-in stations to make their EV plans work. That has sparked a buying frenzy as big charging players gobble up smaller ones.

Big Oil is getting in on electric cars by snapping up EV charging companies. Here's 4 potential M&A targets, according to experts.

New startups could help electric car owners never plug in again. Here are 6 companies racing to build the future of EVs with wireless charging.

9 hot startups that could make or break the electric car industry by rethinking how drivers plug in

Investors are betting on these 9 charging companies to boost the electric car industry in 2022 — and beyond

See what the future of charging stations for electric cars could look like, according to the winners of an international design competition

Charging players

A variety of companies are working on solving the charging problem. Bigger players like ChargePoint and EVgo have dominated public infrastructure so far, but new startups like SparkCharge and Blink are moving fast to challenge them.

Read more:

Electric vehicles could be charged within 5 minutes thanks to tech developed by NASA for use in space

Broken EV chargers are a huge turnoff for electric car drivers and prospective buyers. That signals a growing business opportunity for startups racing to keep those plugs up and running.

Surging electric-car sales could create a $207 billion market for EV charging. These 8 startups are leading the race to build out public charging networks.

A no-name EV charging startup made a leap forward by landing a huge deal with GM. Here's what its CEO plans to do next.

Uber's biggest electric car charging problem could be solved by the startup that's gotten $50 million from Blackstone this year

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Federal support

The massive climate bill passed over the summer provides billions of dollars of funding for an expansion of the US's EV charging infrastructure. The Biden administration wants to see 500,000 public EV chargers on American roads by 2030, up from the roughly 124,000 already available.

Read more:

The infrastructure bill includes $7.5 billion for electric car chargers. The CEO of one company poised to cash in wants Biden to focus on boosting EV sales instead.

The new infrastructure deal would drop $7.5 billion to build a national network of electric vehicle chargers. These 4 companies are poised to cash in.

Biden administration announces rules to make electric car charging less crappy

Challenges

Range anxiety is largely a thing of the past. Most EVs can travel 250 to 350 miles on a single charge, and experts say that's more than enough for the average driver. What drivers are still worried about is access to charging. Charging deserts, confusing and expensive payment processes, and dysfunctional and broken charging ports are still a huge turnoff to EVs.

Those challenges provide opportunities, but there's lots of work to be done to address the charging barriers to EVs.

Read more:

Survey suggests majority of Americans say concerns over charging logistics kept them from buying an electric car

Electric-vehicle charging stations could use as much power as a small town by 2035 — and the grid isn't ready

How the public and private sectors are working to enhance access to electric-vehicle charging stations in rural areas

Experts warn 5 factors could stunt the surging electric car market. Here are 12 of the companies solving these challenges.

A new type of charging cable could charge electric cars in 5 minutes — way less than Tesla's Superchargers

Electric cars aren't a threat to America's 150,000 gas stations — they're a new business opportunity

1 in 5 electric vehicle owners in California switched back to gas because charging their cars is a hassle, research shows