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Are We on the Eve of the EV Era?
Or is it just an environmentalist's tailpipedream?
ATLANTA -- Public electric vehicle (EV) charging stations are popping up across the country, often backed by public-private partnerships or businesses trying to lure customers who are waiting for their cars to charge, said a CNN report.
They are also a lifeline for apartment and condo residents who want an electric car but have no way of charging them at home.
But relying on public charging stations can come with inconveniences. Instead of spending a few minutes filling up at a gas station, electric drivers running on empty must plug in for hours to get a full charge, although they can still "top off" an electric car by plugging in for a few minutes.
Those who have charging systems at home can simply leave their cars plugged in overnight. But for EV owners trying to get a full charge at a public station, the wait could be three or four hours, said the report. That's where the placement of public stations is vital--not just for drivers, but for businesses that can cash in by luring drivers to their stores.
Nissan Leaf owner Randy Stanley told the news outlet that although he now has a charging system at home, he prefers to plug in at Atlantic Station, a mixed-use development in Atlanta that has a grocery store, department stores, bars and restaurants.
"I'm usually here for three to four hours anyway," running errands or eating, he said.
Andy Wood, who said that he bought an EV to help the environment, makes a special effort to support businesses that provide him "free gas." He told CNN: "I go out of my way and plan my trips around public charging stations. You're helping me ... so I'm paying you back with my loyalty and spending my business there."
Drugstore chain Walgreens is the largest retail host of EV charging stations in the country, with more than 400 plug-in sites in 18 metropolitan areas, including Philadelphia; Baltimore; Chicago; Tampa, Fla.; and Portland, Ore.
The stations can cost between $3,000 and $15,000 to install, Suzanne Tamargo, a spokesperson for Car Charging, the provider for Walgreens' stations, told the news network.
But drivers say the network of public EV stations isn't nearly as extensive as it should be.
There are about 8,000 public sites across the United States, compared to the 150,000 gas stations in the country. About a quarter of the country's public charging stations are in California, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Costs to charge can range from free to a few dollars an hour, but it can take several hours to reach a full charge.
One public-private venture, the EV Project, has set up about 2,600 public charging stations in nine states and 21 cities. The project, funded jointly by U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) grants and partner matches, collects data on the usage of EV infrastructure to analyze how best to deploy charging stations.
Colin Read, vice president of ECOtality, the manager of the EV Project, told CNN: "We're trying to make charging a very ubiquitous part of your life."
He said the EV Project is trying to deploy a total of 5,000 public stations and 8,000 residential chargers. The project also is testing different revenue systems for public stations, he said.
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Comments
Clearly this piece was not written by a plug-in driver (they do not know what they are writing about). I suggest their Editor spring for their staff to rent an EV for a week so they have some actual experience (analogy: a romance writer who has never been in love).
The hours mentioned charging depends on the EV, and now that the buying public is aware that the Leaf and iMiev EVs have cheap half-powered on-board chargers, the public will likely opt to either wait for the ver 2.0 models that has the improvements or go with the Focus or Coda EVs that have full powered chargers on-board (the chargers mentioned in the piece really only supply the AC power, the vehicle has the actual charger that changes the AC to DC so as to recharge the pack).
It was incorrectly mentioned that drivers would top-off for a few minutes. Sorry, that is not done on the level-2 ClipperCreek chargers (aka EVSE) seen in the piece's images. Today's Leaf EV charging for 1 hour puts back ~13 miles; 26+ miles on a Focus EV. Usually drivers do not fully charge as the last 10 to 20% is at a slow rate (it has to do with the battery chemistry not the power). So they just unplug at 80% and hit the highway toward their next destination (you do not have to fully recharge the pack each time, same as you do not 'have-to' totally fill your gas-tank each time. We don;t usually 'top-off' if there is EVSE along the way.
A couple of items that should have been mentioned in the piece: There is no planned strategy to install a contiguous route of EVSE, before any further EVSE was installed on a host's whim. That is, if you look at one of the EV charging finder app/sites i.e.: recargo.com you see some areas have gobs of EVSE all close together, and then a few miles away there is none for hundreds of miles (that is just plain dumb).
There should have been a requirement to establish charging so drivers could get from one city to the next. Atlanta is pretty well set because GA had the old EVSE from back in the 1990's (GA was ahead of the curve thanks to your Utility). But places like AL and TX still have huge voids/gaps between major cities and too much EVSE in those cities.
Another point is placement of EVSE near Apt and Condo complexes. It just isn't happening as good as it could. That is where the city's governments need to be in the loop to help get EVSE companies (like carcharging.com ) enticed to install and manage those.
Level-3 quick charging EVSE needs to be installed every ~65 miles on major highways. OR and WA have already done this and is a fine example of how to do it. Along those routes there are still the slower level-2 spots available so drivers can linger, but level-3 is important for our energy security, as more buyers would be interested in an EV if quick (15 minutes to 80% SOC) charging was available along major public routes/corridors.
Lastly, when it comes to EVSE, please work with your state governments to ensure they have hosts set their use fees to how much power is used (kWh rate) and not how much time the vehicle is plugged in (hourly rate). This is more fair to both the drivers and the hosts, and keeps the EVSE well used (because it is priced fairly - an EVSE that is well used returns the most bang for the installed buck).
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