Customers admire a Tesla Model 3 electric vehicle at a Tesla store in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Alex Tai | SOPA Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images
U.S. consumers have been making the move to all-electric vehicles more slowly than many expected — but a growing leader in EV adoption is Hawaii.
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The tropical island state this year ranks fifth in overall EV adoption at 11.9% of new retail vehicles sold through February, according to J.D. Power.
Hawaii also ranks third – behind only California (46.1) and Washington (37) – in J.D. Power’s “EV Adoption Score,” which is weighted based on market, consumer preference and EV availability, among other conditions, with a score of 33.8.
“We measure adoption relative to availability, meaning shoppers need availability of EVs that meet their needs … before they can even consider adopting,” said Elizabeth Krear, vice president of the electric vehicle practice at J.D. Power. “In California, the quantity of EVs is much higher than in Hawaii. But when consumers are given a viable option, 33% are choosing to buy the EV.”
Hawaii also is the top state for EV adoption that hasn’t agreed to the California Air Resources Board’s Zero-Emission Vehicle program, according to J.D. Power. Those rules promote EVs and include stricter vehicle emissions and miles per gallon standards for traditional vehicles in places that have adopted the measure, including the other top five states: California, Washington, Oregon and Colorado.
Why Hawaii?
What’s going on in Hawaii that’s leading to more consumers opting for EVs? It’s a mix of things but mainly high fuel costs, the availability of renewable energy for charging and culture, according to Ivan Drury, director of insights at auto research firm Edmunds, who lives in Waikiki on Hawaii’s Oahu Island.
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“There is a higher sense of responsibility towards stewarding the land versus most mainland states. If you look up ‘Aina’ in Hawaiian, you see what I mean, lots of pride for the land,” he said.
Drury also said the popularity of hybrid models in the state (at 19% in 2023) has helped in the switch to EVs, and road trip concerns – a hurdle for some buyers in the U.S. – aren’t really a problem in Hawaii.
“We’re on an island. No one is really worried about road trips unless they live on the Big Island,” he said. (For reference, the “Hawaii Belt” around the Big Island, or Hawaii Island, is only about 260 miles.)
Gasoline prices also play a factor, as they do in other states, such as California. The average price for a gallon of gas in Hawaii is about $4.72, according to AAA. That’s the highest in the U.S. other than California and $1.10 higher than the national average of $3.62 a gallon.
J.D. Power reports the top-selling EVs in the state are the Tesla Model Y, Tesla Model 3 and Ford F-150 Lightning.
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“I’m really happy. I like the car. I like not buying gas,” said Scott Sageman, a 2021 Tesla Model 3 owner who has lived on Hawaii’s Big Island since moving from California in 2020.
Aloha Kia Leeward in Waipahu, Hawaii
Aloha Kia
Russell Wong, regional vice president of Aloha Kia’s seven stores in Hawaii, said customer interest in EVs continues to grow but the vehicles still remain only about 2% of the stores’ sales.
“While it is a significant percentage of our current sales compared to other dealers or other markets, it’s still a very, very small percentage,” he said. “We do see that continuing to climb.”
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Wong said there’s been a lot of interest in Kia’s new EV9 SUV that’s just arriving to dealerships. The current top-selling EV at the Kia dealerships is the Niro, which also is Kia’s least expensive all-electric vehicle, and Aloha Kia has priced it starting at about $36,000.
EV concerns
Although Hawaii is embracing electric vehicles more than some of its peers, it still has many of the same problems with EV adoption that the U.S. mainland does, including lack of charging infrastructure, affordability and a dearth of vehicle choices.
A Gallup poll released Monday found less than half of U.S. adults, 44%, say they are either “seriously considering or might consider” buying an EV, which is down from 55% in 2023. The proportion not intending to buy an EV has increased from 41% to 48%.
Sageman, who lives on the slope of a volcano, said he has not experienced problems charging, as he does so at home, but the estimated range of his Model 3 can be less than expected due to the state’s hilly terrain.
“The one thing that I’ve noticed is you do not pay too much attention to the estimated range,” he said. “You’re not going to get the same amount if you’re doing a lot of uphill driving.”
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The average cost to a consumer buying an EV from a franchised dealer (excluding Tesla, Rivian and other direst-to-consumer brands) in Hawaii this year is more than $62,600, according to Edmunds. That’s down from more than $68,500 last year and roughly $12,700 over the average price of a vehicle in Hawaii.
High prices are a national and Hawaiian trend. Upper-income Americans across the country are the subgroup most likely to own an EV, with 14% doing so, up from 6% last year, according to the Gallup report.
“We’re sort of at the extreme ends of adoption,” Drury said. “For those in a position to take advantage of an EV, it works, sold. For those that it doesn’t, it won’t, for a very long time. Overcoming the obstacles of infrastructure and high costs of living aren’t something that can be taken care of overnight or even within a few years.”
The Hawaii Foodbank Kauai received two major grants of $25,000 each on Thursday: one from Kauai HMS Host and The Journey for Good Foundation by Alvota, and one from DraftKings and FanDuel.
A team from the Kauai HMS Host and The Journey for Good Foundation by Alvota visited the Puhi facility to present a check for $25,000 in support of the work being done by the Hawaii Foodbank Kauai crew.
“The opportunity to partner with The Journey for Good Foundation by Alvota was truly a gift given to us by our local HMS Host team,” Hawaii Foodbank Kauai Assistant Director Tisha Remigio said in an email. “When this amazing group came to volunteer last month, they got to see the true, on-the-ground operations of our food bank and what it really means to keep our families fed here on Kauai.”
“We learned that the funds for The Journey for Good Foundation come from such a simple, grassroots idea — those change bins at the airport checkout stands where customers can drop their loose change,” Remigio continued. “It’s incredible how that money, which seems so small, creates such a massive impact, such as the grant award. Our local HMS Host is such a wonderful group of people, and we are so fortunate for their ongoing support, not only with this monetary grant, but with the essential grocery rescue work we do with them on a weekly basis. We truly hope this inspires others to adopt a small and simple, yet everlasting, impact idea like this to help those in need on Kauai.”
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The Hawaii Foodbank Kauai also announced, in a Thursday press release, the receipt of a $25,000 donation from DraftKings and FanDuel to directly support the purchase of an additional food delivery vehicle for the Hawaii Foodbank Kauai’s mobile food pantry program.
“DraftKings is committed to strengthening communities,” said Sabrina Macias, Senior Vice President of Global Communications and CSR at DraftKings. “We’re proud to support Hawaii Foodbank Kauai in expanding access to fresh, reliable food resources, and helping families across the island receive the nourishment they need.”
The DraftKings and FanDuel grant will also sponsor the Hawaii Foodbank Kauai’s upcoming Nourish Gala that will be held on Dec. 19 at the Royal Sonesta Kauai Resort, starting at 5 p.m.
Proceeds from the gala fundraiser will help nourish families in need across the island. Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available by visiting the website at www.kauai.hawaiifoodbank.org, or by calling 808-482-2088.
“FanDuel is honored to support Hawaii Foodbank Kauai as part of our commitment to uplifting communities,” said Keita Young, vice president of community impact at FanDuel. “Food banks are essential pillars of local resilience, and we are proud to contribute to ensuring families across Kauai have consistent access to the food and resources they need.”
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The new vehicle will expand the Hawaii Foodbank Kauai’s ability to deliver food, including fresh produce and shelf-stable goods across the island.
“We are deeply grateful for this meaningful gift from DraftKings and FanDuel,” said Hawaii Foodbank Kauai Director Wes Perreira. “With many households on Kauai facing rising food costs, partnerships like this with DraftKings and FanDuel help ensure that none of our friends, neighbors or ohana go hungry.”
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University of Hawaii at Manoa and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Teamed up To Analyze Feasibility of Geothermal Cooling Technologies
By Justin Daugherty, NLR
In areas with geologically recent volcanic activity and ample underground water flow, like the Hawaiian Islands, geothermal energy technologies present options to augment the electric grid.
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Oahu’s steep terrain and highly permeable volcanic rock enable large groundwater flow, a must for successful ground heat exchangers in Hawaii, where load is cooling dominated. Shown here is Kaena Point, the western tip of Oahu’s North Shore. Photo from Christine Doughty, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
To investigate building cooling and energy efficiency options, the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s Hawaii Groundwater and Geothermal Resources Center collaborated with scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory through the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Technology Innovation Partnership Project (ETIPP).
Managed by the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR), formerly known as NREL, ETIPP supports remote, coastal, and island communities with technical assistance and energy planning to help them build more reliable and affordable energy systems. Communities apply for up to 24 months of technical assistance, and those communities drive the scopes and focuses of their energy projects.
University of Hawaii at Manoa joined the program in 2022 with a desire to explore geothermal options, and a new report from this project details the feasibility of developing shallow ground heat exchangers (GHEs) across Oahu and at a specific site on the island for cooling.
Geothermal heat pumps take advantage of relatively constant temperatures just under the earth’s surface, using GHEs to exchange heat with the earth. Through a system of looping pipes in the shallow ground, GHEs can move heat from a warm place to a cooler place, like how a refrigerator functions.
“High-temperature geothermal, which requires deep drilling, is required to produce electricity, but low-temperature geothermal such as GHEs, which can be accessed much nearer the ground surface, can be used for building heating and cooling, greatly lessening loads on the electric grid,” said Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Christine Doughty, staff scientist.
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“I believe both types of geothermal have potential to be an asset to Hawaii,” added Nicole Lautze, founder and director of the Hawaii Groundwater and Geothermal Resources Center.
Determining Geothermal Cooling Favorability in Hawaii
In open-loop geothermal systems, wells are drilled to extract and inject groundwater, allowing the movement of thermal heat to and from the earth. These GHEs use cooler ground water from outside the system for the cooling process and expel the warmer water afterward.
In contrast, closed-loop GHE systems continually circulate a heat-transfer solution through pipes, which transfers heat to and from the ground via thermal conduction. Groundwater needs to have temperatures that are low enough to effectively cool buildings, and groundwater flow in a GHE system works to remove built-up heat.
Hawaii has far greater needs for cooling than for heating—meaning that GHEs would add heat to the subsurface and cause the systems to not function as desired. That is where groundwater comes in: It replaces heated water from the boreholes and maintains the functionality of the GHE system. Sufficient groundwater flow, then, is essential to the considerations for GHE deployment. GHE systems may not be deployed in areas with restricted watersheds or where there is subsurface production of freshwater. Therefore, closed-loop systems may be a more reasonable option in some locations.
Left: A geographic information system map of Oahu depicts different soil permeability zones (“Ksat_Class” indicates the potential speed of groundwater flow). Right: Locations of U.S. Department of Defense lands and public and private schools—potential customers for GHE—are shown.
Numerous factors help determine whether a community or business may consider GHEs. Areas with older homes may lack efficient energy systems, and some organizations, like schools or government buildings, may prioritize more adaptive heating and cooling. Cultural considerations are also very important, and a new NLR report incorporates Hawaii communities’ perspectives on geothermal.
Economic factors are another big consideration, with the expense of deploying a system versus energy savings playing into overall cost. Modeling revealed that electricity and energy transfer demand decreased, and such reductions contributed to cost savings. Longer loan terms may help ease deployment expenses for geothermal systems.
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ETIPP researchers factored the above parameters into their analysis to develop favorability maps for closed-loop and open-loop GHE systems. They used specific geographic information system layers with 11 attributes—including elevation, geology, and soil permeability—to develop an overall favorability map for GHEs on Oahu.
For the site-specific feasibility analysis at the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s Stan Sheriff Center, researchers used a hydrogeologic model to analyze groundwater flow of a closed-loop system at the site. Restrictions on water quality—mandating that groundwater must be left in its natural state—diminished the available area for GHE system deployment across the island, while many coastal areas showed high favorability. Overlays showing potential customers and restricted areas sharpened the maps.
This closed-loop favorability map shows restricted areas where GHE development is not possible. Pixels colored dark green—the top of the color spectrum table—indicate land that is more favorable to geothermal energy.
Geothermal Cooling Potential at University of Hawaii at Manoa
From the island-wide analysis, ETIPP analysis homed in and found that the Stan Sheriff Center at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, a building with a high cooling load in an area with lots of open space surrounding it, could make a good candidate for site-specific analysis of GHE technology.
Researchers used a hydrogeologic model to analyze a potential closed-loop system at the site. They modeled groundwater and heat flow, analyzed subsurface heat flow, and completed a techno-economic analysis.
Analysis without groundwater flow showed that the GHE system may operate normally in the first year, but heat buildup would increase water temperatures significantly after that, and without groundwater to sweep heat away, there would be increased chiller demand in years two through six. Modeling that incorporated groundwater flow—with similar conditions as the Stan Sheriff Center—showed that heat would be effectively swept away from the borefield, which would enable successful GHE operation for at least 10 years. Thus, including groundwater in analysis and planning—coupled with low interest loan rates and high capital investment—may provide economic benefits to the university.
The Stan Sheriff Center (white dome in the center of the image) is located at the base of the Koolau Range. Image from Google Earth.
Cold seawater may be an option for cooling-source systems, the analysis concluded, and such a system already operates at the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii. The report authors encouraged further study.
As in Hawaii, ETIPP continues to help communities explore geothermal and other technologies to help meet their energy needs through in-depth, collaborative investigation of potential solutions.
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“This ETIPP project established a strong collaboration with LBNL and the foundation for what I hope is additional grant funding to explore the potential of GHEs on the UHM campus and across the state to cool buildings and reduce load on Hawaii’s grid,” Lautze said.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Technology Innovation Partnership Project (ETIPP) is a community-led technical support program for coastal, remote, and island communities to access unique solutions and increase energy reliability. By uniting federal agencies, national laboratories, regional organizations, and community stakeholders, ETIPP provides tailored technical support to help communities achieve affordable, reliable solutions to their energy system challenges. This collaborative model leverages the combined expertise and resources of its partners to deliver comprehensive, practical solutions that align with local needs. Learn more about ETIPP.
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Comet C/2025 A6, better known as Comet Lemmon, was one of the latest icy visitors to swing through our neighborhood of the solar system, leaving astronomers and casual skywatchers equally delighted. For observers in Hawaii, the glow of the Milky Way didn’t dim the streak of light made by this comet passing through.
What is it?
Comet Lemmon was discovered in January 2025 and made its closest approach to Earth in late October 2025. But by November 2025, when this image was taken, it had brightened to about the same apparent brightness as the planet Uranus, making it visible to the naked eye even from suburban skies.
Where is it?
This image was taken atop the volcanic peak Mauna Kea, on the Big Island of Hawaii.
Comet Lemmon could be seen with the naked eye as it streaked across the sky. (Image credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURAImage processing: M. Rodriguez (International Gemini Observatory/NSF NOIRLab) & M. Zamani (NSF NOIRLab))
Why is it amazing?
Comets are notoriously unpredictable, so Comet Lemmon’s surprising visibility has felt like a bit of a cosmic bonus for Hawaiian stargazers. And this was a rare treat, as the comet won’t return to Earth’s skies for another 1,350 years, around the year 3375.
Framing this comet is the glow of our home galaxy, the Milky Way, which is easier to spot at higher elevations like Mauna Kea’s peak, where there is less light pollution. The image gives us a souvenir from a celestial visitor that won’t be back for more than a millennium.
Want to learn more?
You can learn more about comets and skywatching.
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