While electric vehicle sales have declined in Arkansas this year, the number of public chargers has slowly increased, according to data from the Alliance for Automotive Innovation. The Alliance's U.S. charging infrastructure dashboard states that more than 16,900 EVs are registered in the natural state, and that 1,084 public chargers are currently available. While major cities feature plenty of public chargers, 37% of Arkansas counties still don't offer chargers, primarily in south Arkansas. The Alliance's newest electric vehicle quarterly report captures data from the beginning of this year to March 31. In that time, 12 new chargers have been installed in Arkansas, while 416 EV sales were reported. At this point last year, 525 total EV sales had taken place, and 161 public chargers had been installed. Brien Marshall Davis, an employee at Genesis of Conway who regularly demonstrates and sells electric vehicles, said that although the growth of EVs has been slow, he believes Tesla has turned the industry into a "fashion statement." "It's been explosive. Manufacturers (have) caught onto that, and I think consumers are way more open. Now we are at the point (where) I believe all dealerships are required to have a single, fully-carried EV technician on hand ... There's clearly a demand, and it's growing," Davis said. Doug Smock, who has worked at North Little Rock's EVolve Auto for over seven years, said that sales have grown year over year. "Gas prices drove up sales lately as well," Smock said. Several EV drivers in the Central Arkansas area have switched to EVs primarily because of the fuel benefits. Jody Carter, who purchased a 2024 Hyundai Ioniq6 in October 2024, said he made the change after analyzing fuel prices and the amount of driving required of him for work. "I drive a lot -- all over