"Charge" of the EV Brigade

As electric vehicles have become more popular in the past few years, the need for a better EV charging infrastructure has drastically increased. The lack of accessible charging stations is a major concern and challenge for those consumers looking to purchase an EV today.

Many EV drivers are able to charge their cars at their house at night, using their house's AC power. This Level 1 charging can take up to 12 hours to fully charge a battery, but since it happens while sleeping, this is not an issue for the average commuter when available. However, customers who live in a condo or apartment hit roadblocks to installing appropriately- positioned electrical outlets and must instead rely on public charging stations.

In 2021, there were about 108,000 public charging ports in the US.  That's nearly one port for every gas station in the US. Because the average gas station in the US has between 6 and 12 pumps, that means there is one EV charging port for every 6-12 gas pumps. In addition to having more available pumps for gas, it takes significantly less time to pump a tank of gas than it does to charge the battery of an electric vehicle. The current charging infrastructure is still largely Level 2 (AC) charging stations, which take several hours to fully charge a battery. There are Level 3 DC fast charging stations, which can charge a vehicle as quickly as 20-30 minutes, but they are not nearly as prevalent as the Level 2 charging stations.

To help customers with their charging needs, both Tesla and Rivian are opening their charging stations to EVs not on brand. The benefit to drivers is that Tesla and Rivian both built out their charging infrastructure using DC fast-charging technology Most Tesla vehicles also come with Combined Charging System (CCS) adapters, so a Tesla owner can charge their car at any public charging station, not just those branded by Tesla.

As of March 2023, there are an estimated 3 million EVs currently registered in the US and over 130,000 public chargers across the country. According to research from Jerry, a car insurance comparison website, with a projected 35 million EVs on roads by 2030, the US will need to install around 478 charging ports every day for the next eight years in order to build the necessary infrastructure to support those cars.

In 2021, Congress passed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act. As part of this legislation, the Department of Transportation, led by Secretary Pete Buttigieg, recently approved plans to distribute $7.5 billion to build a nationwide EV charging network through all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C.

Some private businesses are looking to install EV chargers to attract customers to stop in while charging their car. Chipotle, for example, has several restaurants in Virginia, Florida, and Colorado with DC fast chargers. Other businesses, such as Choice Hotels International and Wal-Mart, are installing fast chargers in their parking lots to entice more customers.

Another part of the lacking infrastructure for EV charging is consumers' "range anxiety" - the fear that their EV will run out of charge before reaching their destination or another charging port. The range of the average EV sold in the United States is around 290 miles. Gas engines currently have a longer range than electric vehicles, although some EV companies have started to produce longer-range batteries. For example, some Tesla Model S batteries can go as far as 405 miles per charge and the Mercedes Vision EQXX concept car, unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show, is estimated to get 648 miles of range per charge. Once more EV charging infrastructure is built out, this "range anxiety" is expected to decrease since EV drivers could find charging stations closer together.

Don't miss our exploration of EV batteries next Tuesday - mark your calendars now!