If waiting for a turn at the pump amid the oil crisis of 1973-74 was exasperating, consider the potential bottleneck for “filling up” an electric vehicle by a single driver.

The majority of people using public charging stations spend anywhere from 15-25 minutes to as much as two hours powering up, according to a report by Pike Research, a part of Navigant Consulting Inc. (NYSE: NCI). In comparison, the 2009 U.S. median commute to work took 25.1 minutes, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

So far, the market for EVs has underperformed, and stations aren’t springing up as the vehicle charging market waits for demand to rise, said Lisa Jerram, lead analyst for the report. Nevertheless, 11.4 million electric vehicle (EV) charging stations are predicted to be in operation worldwide by 2020, according to the report.

Until then, finding publicly available electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) — essentially a charger with fail-safe measures—can be a challenge. States such as Montana, Wyoming and North Dakota have no public EVSE stations, while among Alaska’s 570,000 square miles there’s just one, according to federal data.

Jerram said the EVSE market will expand steadily and unit sales will grow from less than 200,000 this year to nearly 2.4 million by 2020. So far, most EVSE sales have been driven by U.S. federal stimulus dollars via The EV Project and ChargePoint America in 2011–2012, Jerram said.

“Public charging stations have been heavily dependent on government funding,” she said. “The industry is now trying to devise successful business models for deploying stations in public locations—an effort that will become increasingly urgent as government funding winds down.”

Nearly 40 years ago, President Richard Nixon announced the largely forgotten Project Independence in the wake of the 1970s oil embargo, with the goal of achieving energy self-sufficiency by 1980.

Three decades after that deadline passed, the full commercialization of the plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) hasn’t proven as streetwise a buy as predicted.

“The first year and a half of the PEV market has been characterized by a lower level of sales than previously forecasted,” Jerram said. “These sales levels are attributed to the continuing sluggishness of the economy in the developed world, delays in some model introductions and the decision of some original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to hold back on PEV supply.”

More than 135,000 PEVs will be sold globally in 2012, and growth is expected to continue at a steady pace, Jerram said. Last year, there were a reported 242 million registered vehicles in the United States, according to the federal highway administration.

Jerram noted PEVs are selling somewhat better than the first year hybrid vehicles were on the market.

Globally, about 45,000 public charging stations will be installed this year, Jerram said.

Still, there’s a chicken-and-egg dilemma at play. With few EVs on the road, much of the private sector is waiting for them to be a more common sight before investing in charging infrastructure. The market is also grappling with how to generate viable return on investment (ROI).

Pike says sales of EVSE in North America will grow almost tenfold, from about 66,000 units this year to 626,000 units in 2020, with the United States as the largest market.

Domestically, the EVSE market will be led by six states— California, New York, Florida, Texas, Washington and Illinois— with an estimated 50% of sales, Jerram said. With the exception of Washington, those are the most populous states, according to the Census Bureau.

Among heavy PEV-use states, California has 935 public EVSE stations, Texas 351 and New York 158, according to the U.S. Department of Energy Alternative Fuels Data Center (AFDC).

Globally, the European region will see the most EVSE installations from 2012-2020, just slightly more than in the Asia Pacific region, Jerram said. Five European countries will make up the top 10 global EVSE customers: Germany, France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Italy.

In the Asia Pacific region, Japan’s investment in charging infrastructure makes it the strongest market, though China is expected to become the largest market for EVSE in Asia Pacific in 2016. The global top 10 is rounded out by Canada and Australia.

Wireless charging is still in the demonstration phase, and will not begin to see real deployment until 2013, Jerram said.

Pike’s executive summary of the report is free and the full report can be purchased on Pike’s website.