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The solar canopies over the Cronig’s Market lot on State Road in Vineyard Haven. Vineyard Power built them in 2012 with the island’s first public electric-car chargers underneath; the canopies are still there, the chargers were taken out a few years ago, and the old listings that still show them are wrong.
EV charging on Martha's Vineyard: about 34 public stations, nearly all Level 2, listed town by town with ports and prices (Cronig's by the ferry, the Edgartown Park and Ride, town halls, libraries, the airport, the Aquinnah cliffs), the one fast-charging site in Chilmark and what we could not verify, no Supercharger, the ferry's EV rules, and how to run an electric week on a 20-mile island.
An electric car works on Martha’s Vineyard for a simple reason: the island is 20 miles long, and a week of beaches, towns and one trip to the cliffs is less than a full charge. What it does not have is a fast-charging network. There are roughly three dozen public charging stations on the island and nearly all of them are Level 2, the kind that adds 20 to 30 miles an hour while you shop, eat or sleep; there is no Tesla Supercharger, and the one fast-charging site, at the Chilmark fire station, is the exception you plan around rather than count on. So the strategy is the opposite of a road trip: arrive with a charge, top up where you park, and treat the ferry as the one rule that can stop you. This is every public charger we can verify, town by town, what they cost, the Steamship Authority’s policy on electric vehicles, and how we would run an EV week.
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Know Before You Go
Town Hall Annex: two Level 2 ports, the closest public chargers to the Steamship terminal. The senior center: one. Tisbury School: listed for summer use. Cronig’s Market on State Road no longer has chargers: the solar canopies stand, but the ports under them were removed a few years ago, whatever older directories say. The Stop & Shop by the ferry has none that we can confirm.
Town Hall: two Level 2 ports at 25 cents a kilowatt-hour. The library: free. Nothing on Circuit Avenue or at the Steamship terminal.
The Park and Ride on Dark Woods Road: four ChargePoint Level 2 ports at 25 cents, paid for by the town and a state grant in 2022, on the Route 1 bus line so you can charge and ride into town. The fire and rescue building: two ports. The VTA yard, 11 A Street: free. The Harbor View Hotel: one Tesla destination charger for guests and patrons. The Winnetu at Katama: four ports for guests.
Town Hall: free. The library: two ports, paid. The highway department: free. Martha’s Vineyard Airport, general aviation lot: 25 cents a kilowatt-hour, the up-island charge for anyone flying in and renting.
The fire and EMS complex, 399 Middle Road: four Level 2 ports, free, and the paid charger in the lot at 40 cents. The fast-charging plans belong here; see above.
Town Hall: two ports, free. The Cliffs parking lot: two ports. Charge while you walk to the overlook and the shops.
A VTA bus pulling out at West Tisbury Town Hall on State Road. The town’s free Level 2 charger is here, and so is the up-island bus stop, which is the point: plug in and let the bus do the driving.
Know Before You Go
Charge on the mainland the night before; the Woods Hole lots have no chargers we can confirm, and the island’s Level 2 ports are for topping up, not for arriving empty. From Boston, the last fast chargers are on the highway before the bridges.
Ask the inn or the rental about a charger or a garage outlet before you book; a Level 1 trickle from a wall socket overnight adds 40 to 50 miles, which on this island is most of a day. The Harbor View and the Winnetu have chargers for guests; the where to stay guide and the rental guide explain what to ask.
The Edgartown Park and Ride while you ride the bus into town, Tisbury Town Hall Annex while you walk Main Street in Vineyard Haven, the airport lot while you collect someone. An hour at any of them is a beach day’s driving.
The fare-free VTA bus reaches every town and the big beaches, and the bike paths link the three harbor towns. A car on the island is for the up-island days; the without-a-car guide shows how small a role it needs to play.
Aquinnah is about 20 miles from Vineyard Haven. Leave with 60 miles, charge at the Cliffs lot or Aquinnah Town Hall while you walk to the lighthouse, and come home with margin. Menemsha has no public charger we can confirm.
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The island’s rental fleet is small and seasonal and, as far as we can verify, mostly not electric; ask the agency directly, and expect to be told to plan your own charging. The car rental guide has the agencies and the new moped rules. If you fly into MVY and rent, the general aviation lot’s charger at 25 cents a kilowatt-hour is at the airport itself, and the flying guide covers the terminal and the bus outside it.
Whether the Chilmark fast chargers are live and public, and at what rate; whether the airport charger is open to the public or to general-aviation customers only; and the exact hours of the municipal chargers, which follow building hours we have not tested port by port. The directories disagree on a few of these, so we have said so rather than picked one. If you charge somewhere we have wrong, tell us through the contact page and we will fix it the same week.
Step 1 · WhenMonth PickerTwelve months compared on NOAA numbers, crowds, prices and what is open. 
Step 2 · DaysDay-by-Day Trip PlannerMorning, afternoon and evening sketched for every day, events dropped in, emailed to you. 
Step 3 · CostTrip Cost CalculatorFerry, beds with the rooms tax, meals, getting around and activities in one honest range. Our own footage, for a sense of the distances.
About 34 public stations, nearly all Level 2, at town halls, libraries, the Edgartown Park and Ride, the airport, the Chilmark fire station, the Aquinnah cliffs and two hotels. Several municipal ones are free; the paid ones run about 25 cents a kilowatt-hour.
No Supercharger. The one fast-charging site is at the Chilmark fire and EMS complex on Middle Road, where the town has approved a fast-charging station; directories disagree on whether DC fast is live there, so check PlugShare before you rely on it. The Harbor View Hotel has a Tesla destination charger for guests.
Yes, with the same vehicle reservation as any car. Electric and hybrid cars with battery damage are barred under a Coast Guard advisory; since February 2025 a damaged car may board with a letter from an ASE-certified mechanic dated within three months. There is no charging on board.
Often not. The island is 20 miles long, the bus is free and the harbor towns are walkable; a car arriving with a full charge can do a down-island week without plugging in. Charge while you shop or sleep for an up-island day.
The Tisbury Town Hall Annex in Vineyard Haven, two Level 2 ports a short walk from the Steamship terminal. Cronig’s Market no longer has chargers under its solar canopies. In Oak Bluffs the nearest public ports are at Town Hall.
Charger locations, port counts and rates are from the Martha’s Vineyard Chamber’s EV charging list and Bluedot Living’s May 2026 island charging guide, cross-checked against PlugShare’s directory count, the Vineyard Gazette’s reporting on the Edgartown Park and Ride (January 2022) and our own knowledge of the island (the Cronig’s canopy chargers, listed in several directories, were removed a few years ago); the Chilmark fast-charging plans are the town’s published site plans; the Steamship Authority’s EV policy is from the Martha’s Vineyard Times’ February 2025 reporting on the amended rule. Read in September 2026. Chargers come and go; PlugShare’s live entries are the final word on any given day.
Island tip of the day Transport No. 11 of 86 New tip at midnight, island time
Uber and Lyft operate on MV but surge hard in peak season. Local taxis are often steadier: a typical cross-town ride runs about $28, van-pool style, and airport pickups add a small rideshare surcharge.
Parking for the Woods Hole ferry: there is none at the terminal, so here are the three Steamship Authority lots (Palmer Avenue, Thomas B. Landers, Cataumet), the 2026 rates ($25 a day April to October, $20 otherwise), the free shuttle timed to every sailing, when to arrive, the annual and off-season permits, the drop-off rule and the cheaper Island Queen lot in Falmouth Harbor.
How to get a Steamship Authority car reservation to Martha's Vineyard: the February opening and its virtual waiting room, the residents' head start, the five-reservation limit, the wait list that works, the 2026 fares ($127 midweek, $168 summer weekends), the free first change and the 14-day refund rule, no standby, and why most visitors should leave the car in Falmouth.
Every public restroom we know of on Martha's Vineyard, town by town: the two ferry terminals (open year-round), Kennebec Avenue in Oak Bluffs, Church Street in Edgartown, the Stop and Shop lot in Vineyard Haven, West Tisbury Town Hall, the Menemsha beach lot and the Aquinnah cliffs, which beaches have them (not State Beach), what is seasonal, and the fallbacks that work in winter.
The Hamptons or Martha's Vineyard? A New York scene two to three hours away by Jitney or train, with ocean beaches behind a $750 season permit, against a six-town island reached by an hour's flight or a day's train and boat, where every beach is free, the bus is free and the nights are quiet. Getting there, beaches, beds, towns, nightlife, children and cost, honestly.
Newport or Martha's Vineyard? A drivable Gilded Age city with the Breakers ($32), the free 3.5-mile Cliff Walk, festival weekends at Fort Adams and a late harbor front, against a six-town island reached by an $11 ferry with twenty beaches, a free bus and quiet nights. Getting there, sights, beds, nights, children, weddings, and doing both from Rhode Island.
Block Island vs Martha's Vineyard, honestly: a 9.7-square-mile island with one village and a $12 year-round ferry from Point Judith against 96 square miles, six towns and an $11 boat from Woods Hole. Size, ferries (the car fare gap is huge), beds, beaches, the week versus the weekend, and which one fits your trip from Rhode Island.
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