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Power The Almighty Buck United States

Three US States Will Spend $1.3 Billion To Build More Electric Vehicle Charging (theverge.com) 105

Posted by BeauHD from the high-rollers dept.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: Three U.S. states announced major investments in charging infrastructure for electric cars on Thursday. In total, California, New York, and New Jersey will put $1.3 billion on the table in the coming years to help chip away at one of the biggest barriers standing in the way of widespread EV adoption. California's Public Utilities Commission approved up to $738 million worth of projects over the next five years, the agency announced. Southern California Edison and the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) will spend up to $343 million and $236 million, respectively, to build charging infrastructure that will support thousands of medium or heavy-duty vehicles at around 1,500 locations throughout the state. PG&E will spend another $22 million building 234 DC fast-charging stations at around 50 different sites throughout the state.

In New York, the governor's office announced a pledge of up to $250 million through 2025 to its electric vehicle expansion initiative, EVolve NY. The New York Power Authority will work with the private sector to install up to 200 DC fast chargers "along key interstate corridors" with the goal of making them available every 30 miles, and it will also bring them to urban areas as well, including at or near New York City's two major airports. Meanwhile, New Jersey's biggest utility owner Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) announced a $300 million pledge to build out up to 50,000 charging stations along highways, in residential areas, and at workplaces.
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Three US States Will Spend $1.3 Billion To Build More Electric Vehicle Charging More

Three US States Will Spend $1.3 Billion To Build More Electric Vehicle Charging

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  • Solving the wrong problem (Score:5, Insightful)

    by vtcodger ( 957785 ) on Friday June 01, 2018 @05:42PM (#56712438)

    What is needed for EVs to take off is a safety regulation compliant, not too uncomfortable, basic vehicle that can be driven away for $15000 USD -- preferably less. Build that and you'll probably find coin operated EV chargers installed at every convenience store and office building parking lot. As long as EVs cost ten times the price of a (well) used Honda Civic, Slashdot will continue its unending stream of articles on EV breakthroughs. And the number in actual use will continue to be minimal.

    • Re:Solving the wrong problem (Score:4, Funny)

      by Gravis Zero ( 934156 ) on Friday June 01, 2018 @05:54PM (#56712494)

      What is needed for EVs to take off is a safety regulation compliant, not too uncomfortable, basic vehicle that can be driven away for $15000 USD -- preferably less.

      Since the batteries are the pricey part of EVs, what we really need is for the automation issues with the Gigafactory to be completely solved so that they can scale up and out to many other sites.

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

        The Gigafactory alone won't be nearly enough, but fortunately there are plenty of others being built around the world. Korea, China and Japan are all ramping up output.

    • Re:Solving the wrong problem (Score:5, Interesting)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 ) on Friday June 01, 2018 @06:34PM (#56712698) Homepage Journal

      The main issue limiting adoption is not really cost - you can get used EVs really cheap, and they are a great buy because there is very little to go wrong with them and they need next to no maintenance. The issue is lack of charging infrastructure.

      Norway has got it right. Chargers everywhere. Simple operation, no stupid phone apps or subscriptions required. If someone asks for a charger outside their home the local government just does the whole street.

      • What is the lowest price realistic EV (not a GEM glorified golf car) on the market today? Does it come anywhere near the typical $20K of a budget ICE?

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by dfghjk ( 711126 )

          What is the lowest price realistic gasoline powered car given the same extemely low volumes that EV faces today? Asking the wrong question.

          Don't agree with the claim that there is "very little to go wrong" with a used EV. They are still cars. Used EVs are cheap because there's no resale demand for them. All that would change with broad adoption. New prices would come down, resale value would improve.

          • So, new EVs are expensive because of lo volumes because no one can afford to buy them, and they are really cheap used because no one wants them. And the solution is broad adoption - of a vehicle that people either can't afford (new) or don't want (used). Your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

          A used Leaf, couple of years old with low mileage. A similar Zoe.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by kenh ( 9056 )

      Build that and you'll probably find coin operated EV chargers installed at every convenience store and office building parking lot.

      The raw electricity to charge a plug-in car is over $2.50 [energy.gov], add profit and overhead, and you could be looking at $7.50-$10 per charge - that's a lot of coins.

      Electric car development,
      Electric car factories,
      Car battery factories,
      consumer purchase of the electric car,
      charging stations in public places,
      charging stations at office buildings,
      charging stations at home,
      are ALL subsidized, and are allowed to run tax-free on public roads and bridges.

      If electric cars aren't ubiquitous, it isn't for lack of government

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AHuxley ( 892839 )
      In Soviet Union real car ready in 2038 for you.
      In Capitalist West California builds free charging station for you.
      California is still working on the free car part.
  • After all, California only has 777 billion in state debt last time I looked. What is another 700+ million added to that.

    Just my 2 cents ;)

  • Not a big fan of Tesla using their own charging ports for level 2 and level 3 charging. We finally force mobile device vendors to use usb as a standard, and tesla is using its own charging port plugs. People are already complaining about compatible charging stations.

    https://chargehub.com/en/elect... [chargehub.com]

    • Not a big fan of Tesla using their own charging ports for level 2 and level 3 charging. We finally force mobile device vendors to use usb as a standard, and tesla is using its own charging port plugs. People are already complaining about compatible charging stations.

      Sounds like there is money to be made in the dongle/adapter market.....eh?

      ;)

  • Here's what I'm curious about: Assuming the normal sales tax rate is applied to the electricity sold by these charging stations, is the state making more or less money than the taxes on gas?

    I'm guessing less, but I have no idea where to even begin nailing down some of those variables.

    • Quite a bit less. Assuming the normal retail $0.25/kWh paid in CA, a P100D would need $25.00 to completely charge. Assuming a max of 10% sales tax, that is $2.50 for the State. Gas taxes in CA run about $0.58 per gallon. Assuming 300 mile range, and 30 MPG, the State would collect less than half the taxes of an comparative ICE.

      Additionally, since damage to roads goes as the fourth power of vehicle weight, EVs (which tend to outweigh similar-sized ICE vehicles) tend to do a lot more damage to the roads.

      • There is definitely room for some swing in those figures, but I agree with the outcome. Thanks for the input.

        Generally speaking, I'm a proponent for electric vehicles. But the general public simply isn't going to adopt until the cost of switching is less than the cost of remaining in a gas powered vehicle.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by dfghjk ( 711126 )

      Why does this matter?

      Gas taxes pay for infrastructure, it's done that way because it can be. If electric makes that unrealistic then it will be done another way (and that would be a great problem to have). The government will find their taxes regardless.

      • Gas taxes pay for infrastructure, it's done that way because it can be. If electric makes that unrealistic then it will be done another way (and that would be a great problem to have).

        I like this perspective. However, I don't know that I have a lot of faith that the government cogs will spin quickly enough to keep up with the changing market.

  • Now I will need to park 75 spaces away from the door, after the handicapped, then the 'family' then the 'charging', then the compact. May as well just walk because I am closer to my house than when I started.

    Actually...Hey...wait a minute! What a devious plan.

  • We need to encourage a future in which the vast amount of charging occurs at home. Slow charges are much better for the batteries and the impact on the grid is less if charging is spread out, coordinated with home systems, and occurs largely overnight. The positive impact to the grid is also maximized in a future where these vehicles are connected to the grid when parked for long periods of time and can be utilized to stabilize it.

    Of these three initiatives, New Jersey's sounds best due to more prominent su

    • If we charge overnight, and the majority have EVs, then haven't we simply doubled up on "peak hours"? The typical EV will need 150-20kWh of charge, meaning for a typical home, 8 hour overnight charge, you'll need to pull 2 to 3 kW per hour - more than the home would use during the typical "day" period. The grid would need to be massively upgraded to now handle high peak loads in residential areas, not just commercial or industrial.

      • The average American drives about 1100 miles per month. So, about 4 full charges of a vehicle with a 70kWH+ battery a month. Because it greatly extends the total mileage an auto battery reaches to top off instead of charging fully, a 1/7th or so top off every night is much better practice. This is around 10kWH per night on average. The average is what matters when looking at the grid impact across entire communities. Most nights, cars are parked for over 12 hours. But, let's call it 10 and assume that every

      • You are assuming every single car is going to be charging every single night and every car is going to have a nearly empty battery, people will either plug when necessary i.e. nearly empty or every night just for a top up. The charging can also be controlled as it can all be linked so if the draw gets too much, the grid can temporarily shutdown charging for some EVs or when Vehicle to Grid comes on line, they can draw a little from a EV connected to the grid - this is where microgrids come in handy.
    • And all shopping mall car parks, general car parks should be completely covered with solar panels (where possible - nice to come back to a cooler car) and chargers installed so you can top up when shopping.
  • They're choosing one tech over another. Did the government build gas stations 100 years ago? Hell no. Joe blow had to decide "hmmm, haystacks or gasoline. Wat do?". The successful ones chose gasoline.

    Who's to say electric charging stations are better than hydrogen refill stations; or, hell, gas stations.

    The government needs to butt out and let the market decide. Putting your thumb on the scale only results in a Hillary vs Trump campaign, when there is a very good chance Bernie could have won the

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by dfghjk ( 711126 )

      "They're choosing one tech over another."

      When it's in society's best interest, it is an appropriate function of the government to do this. Where's your outrage over the government building roads?

      "Who's to say electric charging stations are better than hydrogen refill stations; or, hell, gas stations."

      Intelligent people, that's who. It's not a mystery. Who's to say it's an either/or situation?

      "The government needs to butt out and let the market decide. Putting your thumb on the scale only results in a Hil

  • The fastest superchargers will take 30 min. It takes me 3 min to fill up the tank.

    It makes sense to develop a network of chargers along major interstates for long-distance travelers, so they can enjoy their sundae taco while their car is charging.

    As for commuters, they will still need to charge their cars overnight at their homes. Every day.

  • If the electric car companies were footing the entire bill for this, I wouldn't have a problem with it.

    But they aren't, so I do.

    Others are only offended by corporate welfare when it benefits a company or industry they have no emotional investment in.

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