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A new statewide dashboard sheds light on what types of cars Hoosiers are driving—and the increase of electric and hybrid vehicles, which still make up a small fraction automobiles in Indiana.
The Indiana Vehicle Fuel Dashboard released last week visualizes information about the types of vehicle fuels in the state, as well as data trends over time.
The new interactive tool allows users to filter by county, fuel type, and type of vehicle. State officials said the dashboard is designed to shed light on alternative fueling trends in transportation throughout the state.
“The fuels Hoosiers are choosing for their transportation needs are diversifying,” said Ryan Hadley, executive director for the Indiana Office of Energy Development, in a statement. “The Indiana Vehicle Fuel Dashboard puts the data directly in the hands of citizens and businesses to see how vehicle adoption trends has and will continue to change.”
Data in the dashboard ranges from January 2018 to present and comes from Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicle registration data and is refreshed weekly.
The first-of-its-kind dashboard was developed through a multi-agency partnership between the OED, BMV, and Indiana Management Performance Hub, with additional help from Indiana Department of Transportation and Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission.
“The BMV has heard from a number of Hoosiers that they want to see this type of data and we are glad to work with key partners to provide the information,” said Indiana BMV commissioner Joe Hoage. “The dashboard creates an insightful view of vehicles registered in Indiana. The efficiency it provides will serve many looking to utilize this data both in and outside of Indiana.”
More Hoosiers opting for electric, hybrid vehicles
By far, Indiana roads are dominated by gas vehicles, according to state data.
Of the roughly 6.5 million vehicles registered through the BMV last year, 80% were solely gas-powered, and close to 10% were “flexible,” or flex-fuel vehicles that can run on either traditional gasoline or E85—a gasoline blend with ethanol concentration up to 85%.
About 4% of registered vehicles were categorized as diesel fuel types.
Electric-gas hybrid vehicles accounted for 1.68% of all registered in Indiana, and just .25% were fully electric. That’s equal to nearly 125,000 hybrid and fully electric vehicles, combined.
But although a minority of registered vehicles, alternative fuel types have been gaining popularity in the Hoosier state since 2018.
Electric and gas hybrids accounted for 1.1% of all registered vehicles in 2018, equal to 72,576 vehicles. That same year, there were 3,441 fully electric vehicles, making up .05% of all those registered.
The 2022 numbers reflect a 64% increase in the number of alternative fuel vehicles registered in Indiana since 2018. The new state dashboard indicates that even more electric and hybrid vehicles are being registered in 2023.
Marion County has recorded the most electric and hybrid vehicles registered over the last five years, totaling close to 91,000.
Nearly 60,000 such such vehicles were registered in Hamilton County, while 34,500 were registered in Allen County, and 31,500 in Lake County. St. Joseph, Monroe, Tippecanoe Hendricks, Porter, Elkhart, Johnson, Vanderburgh and Boone counties all had more than 10,000 electric and hybrid vehicles registered, too.
Indiana’s ongoing electric vehicle transition
Multiple, yearslong initiatives in Indiana seek to increase the number of electric and hybrid vehicles on Hoosier roads and reduce overall carbon emissions.
INDOT’s in-progress carbon reduction strategy includes strategies to increase fuel efficiency and electric vehicles, in addition to investing in public transit, bicycle and pedestrian facilities.
A key part of the draft plan — which is boosted by federal dollars and must be finalized by November — is its investment in electric vehicle charging stations. The state plans to build charging stations along all interstates and U.S. Highway 31, with construction expected to begin in 2024.
During the 2023 legislative session, state lawmakers further commissioned a new task force that will analyze buying trends and impacts of increased electric vehicle adoption. The task force will also likely consider new strategies for taxing alternative fuels.
Vehicles that use alternative fuels pay less—or none at all in gas taxes, which fund transportation infrastructure improvements. Instead, owners pay higher registration fees, but the price is based on assumptions of how many miles those vehicles will drive and how efficiently they’ll do it.
Some lawmakers and state officials say that model is cause for concern, maintaining that—as the number of electric and hybrid vehicles increases—more needs to be done to ensure that roadways can be properly funded and maintained.
The Indiana Capital Chronicle is an independent, not-for-profit news organization that covers state government, policy and elections.
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What a joke! Indiana has shown zero interest in supporting electrification of passenger vehicles, and in fact actively discourages owning them. Maybe the state will turn the corner – if only to gobble up the Federal funds – but Indiana has been actively hostile to development for years.
“Multiple, yearslong initiatives in Indiana seek to increase the number of electric and hybrid vehicles on Hoosier roads and reduce overall carbon emissions.”
Please cite any real source for that, as the two shown are not aligned with that opinion. The first link shows a site where Indiana is criticized for squandering federal assistance, providing no funds of it’s own, and being years behind our neighbors. The next link is to a criticism of the new “task force” where these modernization plans will go to die, and they instead speak of plans to sell more of our roads to raise tolls.
Why is registering a hybrid or BEV subject to hundreds of dollars annually in additional tax penalties? Why is there no state tax break for purchasing or owning those vehicles? How is there currently only 1 publicly available DC charging station on the entire I-69 corridor (Fishers)?
“Some lawmakers and state officials say that model is cause for concern, maintaining that—as the number of electric and hybrid vehicles increases—more needs to be done to ensure that roadways can be properly funded and maintained.”
Stop this myth. Gas taxes don’t even come close to paying for the roads. A fraction of the roads budget is covered by those taxes ($1.7B raised in 2022, vs ~$3B spent by INDOT each year). The only way to properly account for the wear on roads would be to tax vehicles by size or weight, which is a non-starter for Industry, and the SUV/tank owning suburbanites.
Well Charles, when you account for the increased weight of EVs (hundreds to thousands of pounds heavier than similarly sized gas vehicles because EV batteries are so much heavier than engines,) they should be paying for quite a bit more in roar wear costs than gas vehicles. Educate yourself with facts, not feelings. https://www.axios.com/2023/04/28/evs-weight-safety-problems
Read, Dominic. I want heavy vehicles – BEVs and heavy trucks included – to pay a fair share. I’m just tired of these lazy lame “gas tax replacement fees” of hundreds of dollars annually on a BEV or hybrid, whether it drives 100 miles or 20000 miles a year – when the electricity used is already taxed and gas tax doesn’t even come close to paying for the roads!
But you didn’t read, you just felt like being upset. Besides- both my PHEV and BEV cars are lighter than a gas Honda Pilot, Ford Explorer, or Chevy Blazer, so you don’t have a clue.
Don’t worry, folks. The Indiana legislature is wanting to add toll lanes to interstate highways (which is prohibited by federal law) because they are upset that people can drive through Indiana without stopping to buy gas. That will surely solve the problem and will apply to electric vehicles too!
(Sarcasm. Lots of it. We’re hosed due to the fools in the Legislature.)
Agreed. Great support for electric or hybrid vehicles… how about the additional $75 fee you pay when renewing the plates? Indiana isn’t doing a great job supporting the translon. It’s laughing stock honestly.
Inasmuch as Hoosiers don’t buy new vehicles as often as drivers in other states (at least as far as I have observed), it will be so sometime around 2065 before you see electric vehicles bearing Indiana license plates in significant numbers.
Until range and charging speeds increase significantly, EVs are merely a virtue signal for the rich and the green obsessed.
Valid concern for those taking long road trips… which most of us do, what, twice a year?
What do you need range for when all most do is commute to and from the office and you can charge overnight? That isn’t more than 50 miles of driving a day for most of us, and who cares if it takes 8 hours to charge when you’re asleep?