President Joe Biden has proposed spending at least $15 billion to begin rolling out electric vehicle charging stations, with the goal of reaching 500,000 charging stations nationwide by 2030.
(TNS) — President Joe Biden has proposed spending at least $15 billion to begin rolling out electric vehicle charging stations, with the goal of reaching 500,000 charging stations nationwide by 2030.
There are about 102,000 public charging outlets across about 42,000 charging stations nationwide today, according to the Department of Energy, with a third concentrated in California (in comparison, Michigan is home to just 1.5% of the nation’s public charging outlets at 1,542 charging outlets).
Experts say significantly expanding the charging network would require coordination across the auto industry, retail businesses, utility companies and all levels of government — and $35 billion to $45 billion more, potentially through required matches from local governments or private companies.
They also say a long-term approach is appropriate, as the roll-out of chargers should match consumer adoption to moderate demand and allow time to expand the electric grid, and caution against proprietary chargers like those used by Tesla Inc.
Where we stand
Today, the charging network in the U.S. is an amalgam of public and private entities seeking to prepare for more EVs on the roads.
The largest charging network is owned by ChargePoint, the first global charging company to be publicly traded. It’s followed by other such private companies as Blink, Electrify America, EVgo, Greenlots and SemaConnect. Most of these charging companies use a universal plug approved by the Society of Automotive Engineers and have adapters available for Tesla-brand EVs.
Tesla operates the second-largest charging network after ChargePoint, but it uses proprietary chargers that can only be used by Teslas.
As other automakers work to take a larger bite out of the U.S. EV market, most are not following in Tesla’s footsteps by going it alone: General Motors Co. is partnering with EVgo; Ford Motor Co. is working with Greenlots and Electrify America; and Stellantis NV is also partnering with Electrify America.
In Europe, where a standard connector is mandated, Tesla doesn’t have an exclusive network. There’s no standard connector mandated in the U.S. currently, but Sam Abuelsamid, principal research analyst at Guidehouse Insights, thinks that should change to help EV adoption.
Electric vehicle startup Rivian Automotive LLC plans to build a charging network that would be exclusive to its customers.
“That actually makes the access problem worse,” Abuelsamid said. “As the number of EVs grow, suddenly we’ve got thousands of chargers that could be used, but the company won’t let people use them, and that’s bad. If you really want people to adopt EVs, you need to make every charger accessible to every EV owner.”
Steady growth
The Biden administration has frequently likened the president’s infrastructure proposal and the EV initiatives within it to the roll out of the interstate highway system in the 1950s in scope and potential influence, which cost about $1.1 trillion in today’s dollars ($114 billion at the time).
The gas stations that dot the interstates and reach out into some of the most remote areas of the country didn’t come all at once — they tracked with demand for cars and trucks as it rose over the 20th century, experts say.
“But when you talk about supercharging stations, there’s increased complexity,” said Ives, referring to the DC fast chargers that would be necessary to come close to the quick-stop experience of pulling over for gas on a road trip (though that speed isn’t yet possible with existing technology).
Charging infrastructure needs to be slightly ahead of demand to ensure the electric grid can be prepared to handle increased use, but not so far ahead that they go unused.
“What we’re trying to do is pace the market, not flood the market because EVs … they’re growing very fast, we’re seeing 20% year-over-year growth in our territory, but they’re still only about one out of every 100 vehicles right now,” said Jeff Myrom, director of Consumers Energy’s electric vehicle programs. “There’s really not a good reason to flood the market.”
Consumers is offering $70,000 in rebates for the installation of DC fast chargers and hopes to continue to do so through 2024. Utility companies offering charger rebate programs get a return by increasing their rates over time.
“We really view this as beneficial to all of our customers if we’re doing this in a way that we’re integrating the load efficiently with the grid, so we can shift the charging to off-peak times or we can install charging where there’s excess capacity on the system,” said Kelsey Peterson, a manager of DTE Energy Co.’s EV strategy and programs.
DTE, too, is providing rebates of up to $55,000 per charger depending on output.
Post time: Apr-30-2021