While the broad population, through its taxes, has been helping to start the electric vehicle business, the benefits of electric cars and plug-in hybrids isn't being distributed evenly.
Electric cars cannot easily be charged at home, because the voltages and current available on regular household circuits – 110 volts and 15 amps – is too low to charge the car rapidly. It takes 10 to 20 hours to charge a car fully. (It also requires that one live in a house with a garage with electricity. Apartment dwellers and people who park on the street – typical in older neighborhoods – cannot have electric cars.)
The charging times can be reduced to half an hour or so with charging stations that deliver electricity at a higher current, and a higher voltage. Thus, electric vehicle owners are dependent on high-current charging stations to get a quick charge.
Areas without charging stations are “high risk” areas in which one might find themselves unable to reach a charging station before the battery runs out.
In Los Angeles, these areas are East LA and South LA. A look at the map (at the Plugshare website) shows high densities of charging stations downtown, in Hollywood, and on the westside and Santa Monica, where wealthier people live.
Article and charger map: The Electrical Divide: Car Charger Deserts by nobody
The Electrical Divide: Car Charger Deserts