Public charging stations for electric vehicles once tended to be confined to the dark corners of parking lots and highway rest stops. Now they are getting more obvious.

Companies are opening brightly lighted, canopied lots and converting gas stations into charging destinations, as well as investing in better signage. The upgrades and expansion will satisfy new demand and make it clear to non-EV drivers that charging stations would be available to them if they went electric. Drivers who don’t see public chargers in and around their local areas are less likely to make the switch to electric, said Joel Levin, executive director of Plug In America, a nonprofit that advocates for EVs.

“All EV drivers have had the experience of driving aimlessly around a big parking lot because they know there’s chargers somewhere but they can’t find them,” said Mr. Levin. “And for non-EV drivers, better signage disabuses them of the idea that charging stations don’t exist.”

The new formats come as the automotive industry begins a second chapter in EV adoption, moving out of the “innovator” phase reserved for early experimenters—usually with a high disposable income. Electric vehicles made up 7.2% of global car sales in the first half of 2021, up from 4.3% in 2020 and 2.6% in 2019, according to data from research provider Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

President Biden last year set a target to make half of all new vehicles sold in 2030 zero-emissions vehicles, introducing a $7.5 billion plan to build a network of 500,000 chargers to accommodate them.

Many among the new group of drivers are less likely to have access to charging at home, which requires a private garage or dedicated parking spot set up with the necessary equipment.