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Power Transportation Government United States

All 50 States Get Green Light To Build EV Charging Stations (cnbc.com) 133

The U.S. Transportation Department on Tuesday said it approved electric vehicle charging station plans for all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico covering roughly 75,000 miles of highways. CNBC reports: Earlier this year, the Biden administration allocated $5 billion to states to fund EV chargers over five years along interstate highways as part of the bipartisan infrastructure package. Under the plan, entitled the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program, states provided their EV infrastructure deployment proposals to the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation. States are now approved to construct a network of EV charging stations along designated alternative fuel corridors on the national highway system and have access to more than $1.5 billion to help build the chargers.

It's unclear how many charging stations the funds will support, and states have not yet shared specific charger locations. Transportation Department officials have said that states should install stations every 50 miles and ensure each station is located within one mile of an interstate highway. "We have approved plans for all 50 States, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia to help ensure that Americans in every part of the country -- from the largest cities to the most rural communities -- can be positioned to unlock the savings and benefits of electric vehicles," Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement.

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All 50 States Get Green Light To Build EV Charging Stations

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  • Background: I have a model 3 and love it so don't accuse me of being anti-EV

    It's nice that there's now approval to build charging stations. I don't know why the Feds would have to approve charging stations on non-Federal land but uh ok.

    So what's going to back all these new chargers? Are new power plants being built? Are grids being upgraded? We already have huge and visible power problems in Texas and California (so no this isn't a left vs right issue, it's a general infrastructure issue). And no seri

    • Re:Power plants? (Score:5, Informative)

      by jonwil ( 467024 ) on Tuesday September 27, 2022 @11:01PM (#62919625)

      The feds are approving these charging stations because the feds are paying for them (specifically they told the states "here is a bunch of money to spend on building charging stations, come up with a plan how to spend it" and now the states have submitted those plans and the plans they submitted are what have been approved by the feds)

      • by narcc ( 412956 )

        You were replying to a known right-wing troll. He knows this, but wants to spread FUD about EVs anyway.

      • by anegg ( 1390659 )

        So we are essentially going to nationalize fueling vehicles? Or are we going to use federal tax money to build charging stations that private companies will make the profit from fueling vehicles?

        Not trying to be a troll, just trying to understand the parts that I haven't seen discussed in this charging station rollout plan.

        • by jonwil ( 467024 )

          The feds are providing funding to states to build out fast charging infrastructure because the places the states are going to build these chargers are places where it is unviable for a commercial operator to build such high-speed chargers.

          Its designed to ensure availability of fast chargers along these designated "corridors" to ensure that lack of chargers on long trips isn't a barrier to EV adoption.

    • Re:Power plants? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by slack_justyb ( 862874 ) on Tuesday September 27, 2022 @11:51PM (#62919705)

      We already have huge and visible power problems in Texas and California (so no this isn't a left vs right issue, it's a general infrastructure issue)

      I think it's important to note that these "problems" are ones that businesses create but governments ask citizens to solve. Nashville Electric Services was telling customers to conserve electricity all the while the football stadium stayed on day and night, 24/7. The same is true for Texas and California. They want YOU to save electricity because they want THEIR problem to be YOUR problem.

      And no serious plan in either state to fix their shit

      Well Texas' problem is the "don't step on snek" mentality that abounds there. California's problem is the crunchy idiots who decided nuclear was too scary. So I mean the Government call tell them what to do, but then the Government is telling what to do. But I don't know, maybe that's someone here's cup of tea. Truth be told, they should just fix their shit, but political agendas be political agenda-ing.

      And I wonder how many other states have similar problems or trending that way we haven't seen yet

      Well that's because a lot of politicians like to put in people's hands so they can wash their hands of it. And that gets me to what I like this green light for EV stations. Usually you can nail politicians down to this issue about as well as you can nail down rain coming down the waterspout, that is usually "fixing shit" is something they just kick the can on because they'll only do it when 100% of the people agree to something which never happens. So the fact that someone is doing SOMETHING, I get it, it's not a complete package but I mean shit, progress is progress at this point.

      But yeah every state has grid issues. We don't build shit in this country anymore. which is why when Trump was wanting to "build a wall" all I could reply with is "DO IT". Because even if it's a pretty shitty excuse for wasting tax payer money, we just don't build shit anymore.

      This is like installing some pretty new faucets in your house but forgetting you need plumbing and a water source coming in

      I get it. But it's a start. But yeah, it's nowhere near a complete package.

      • Re:Power plants? (Score:5, Informative)

        by Smidge204 ( 605297 ) on Wednesday September 28, 2022 @09:20AM (#62920661) Journal

        > Well Texas' problem is the "don't step on snek" mentality that abounds there. California's problem is the crunchy idiots who decided nuclear was too scary

        Texas' problem is their utility providers prioritize profits over service, and their government permits this. They don't invest in even basic, common-sense preventative measures because that costs money.

        California's problem is 20 years ago, a Texas company prioritized profits over service, fought for deregulation, neglected maintenance, skipped upgrades, and deliberately caused problems to increase profits. The result is California is still years and billions of dollars behind on maintenance and upgrades for their distribution grid, and is also still suffering the regulation policies implemented during that time.

        California's problem is not a lack of generating capacity, but the inability of the distribution grid to cope with the extreme weather due to neglect at the hands of the same types of people who run Texas' grid to this day. Even if they built all the nuke plants they'd still have the same problems.
        =Smidge=

    • Are new power plants being built? Are grids being upgraded?

      Yes.

      • I don't know about Texas but I haven't seen anything going on in California to fix anything. Just the usual PG&E political bullshit.

        Where are power plants being built? How much money has been budgeted for grid improvements?

        I'd love to be wrong about this one but pretty sure I'm not.

        • Grids are a never ending story of increasing capacity which may slow down when there are millions of home solar and V2G EV batteries connected to it. Solar and wind farms are being built all the time. California have announced they are going to cover their canals with solar is one example of adding power to their grid. [usnews.com]
          • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

            California announces a lot of shit. They announced high speed rail, too.

            Talking and doing are very different things especially in California where the concept of virtue signaling was born, raised and set free into the world to wreak havoc.

            • by narcc ( 412956 )

              More FUD, I see. New wind and solar installations are happening all the time. You know this, but insist on pushing your silly narrative anyway.

              We are not going to run out of electricity or whatever nonsense you want us to believe because more people start driving EVs. Who believes that crap?

          • California also announced several of their lithium battery storage went up in flames causing wildfires because storing tightly packed lithium in the blazing heat is a great idea.

            • ONE battery storage unit caught fire, and was brought under control. No 'wildfires' were caused due to this fire.
        • by hey! ( 33014 )

          What do you think an effort to improve the grid would look like?

          You could simply Google to find the CAISO 10 year plan [caiso.com]. California has spending about 40 million / year over past five years, that will go up to 300 million averaged over the ten.

          Improvements include new HVDC links both intrastate and interstate and multiple new substations. You probably won't notice any of that happening any more than you've noticed prior capital improvement projects.

        • PG&E keeps getting told by the people to lower prices, and then it can't afford to deliver the energy the people want. CA needs a Fed bailout every time a disaster strikes... wonder what would have happened in we said "Bah" when California disappeared into darkness because of Enron's one strategic cut.

    • by e3m4n ( 947977 )
      I found it a bit ironic that after CA announced no new gas vehicles after 2035, just 6 days later they asked the 0.5% that own EV to not charge their cars due to power shortages. Wonder how that will play out when 25% of the population needs to charge. Lets ask everyone to buy a $60k EV, like biden recently did. Surely nobody is financially strapped and can easily finance $800/mo car payments. Saving on fuel would be a motivator, till I just read this article https://www.cnbc.com/2022/09/2... [cnbc.com] does this m
      • by tsqr ( 808554 )

        Saving on fuel would be a motivator, till I just read this article https://www.cnbc.com/2022/09/2... [cnbc.com] does this mean high charging prices are in store for us here too?

        Another additional expense for EVs that nobody seems to be talking about, is the fact that insurance premiums for EVs runs about 30% higher than for non-EVs.

        • Another additional expense for EVs that nobody seems to be talking about, is the fact that insurance premiums for EVs runs about 30% higher than for non-EVs.

          Proof?

          • by tsqr ( 808554 )

            There are abundant articles with this information. Here's one of them that says the difference is 25% [valuepenguin.com] for car models available with either electric or gas engine. If you don't find that one convincing, five minutes with Google will give you lots to choose from.

          • Insurance is based on many factors, the cost of the vehicle is one of the larger factors. So if a car costs significantly more, i would expect premiums to hike by a fair margin as well. Even among ICE this holds generally true. A cadillac escalade will have higher premiums than a VW Jetta.
            • by tsqr ( 808554 )

              Yes, and it's also driven by repair costs. From what I've read (see the article linked in my earlier post), EVs are more costly to repair. Part of that is the cost of batteries; part of it is that EVs have more sensors than ICE vehicles, and many of them get damaged in minor accidents and require replacement. I've seen claims that a Tesla Model S is roughly 50% more expensive to insure than a comparable luxury ICE vehicle; if that's true, it probably at least partially has something to do with the $16,000 b

      • The story talks about the cost of High-Speed DC charging, which is not the cost of normal electricity at Level 1 or 2 charging. Most charging is done at level 1 or 2. Even then, the cost per mile of rapid charging an EV is slightly lower than an ICE vehicle

        using a rapid or ultra-rapid charger on the public network will now pay around 18p per mile for electricity,” the RAC said. “This compares to 19p per mile for a petrol [gasoline] car and 21p per mile for a diesel one, based on someone driving at an average of 40 miles to the gallon,”

        But, nice try at spreading FUD....

        • So 60k for a vehicle with no measurable savings when on a long trip. I dont call that FUD, I call that math. Do you know how elitist you/biden come across when hiving a speech to a group whose median household income is $38,000, by telling them they could save money by buying the Cadillac EV he took to the convention? Sticker price $60k. At 38k median income you dont even buy new ICE vehicles. Its typically preowned all the way.
          • So 60k for a vehicle

            There are lots of EVs available that are much less than $60k, so stop acting like that is the entry point to get an EV. More FUD.

            with no measurable savings when on a long trip.

            What? I just SHOWED you that it is still cheaper per mile, and that is assuming ALL of your long trip is powered by more expensive rapid charging, which is not the case for long EV trips. And this is in Britain. Here in California, my EV is going to save me $3k/year in gas costs, easily.

            Do you know how elitist you/biden come across when hiving a speech to a group whose median household income is $38,000,

            What speech are you talking about? Where did Biden tell a bunch of low-income people to buy

            • Two weeks ago mr inept gave a speech to a group in Michigan whos median household income was $38k.
              • So they asked all the people in the audience there income before entering?

                I assume you mean this speech:

                https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2022/09/14/remarks-by-president-biden-on-the-electric-vehicle-manufacturing-boom-in-america/

                I looked through the speech and couldn't find at any point where he told the audience to have a bunch of people making $38k to go buy a $60k car.

                Here is the only part I could find that mentioned buying cars:

                Today, if you want an electric vehicle with a long range, you can buy one made in America. (Applause.) If you want one that charges quickly, buy American.

                Yeah, he's really forcing those EVs down their

    • by hey! ( 33014 )

      I don't know why the Feds would have to approve charging stations on non-Federal land but uh ok.

      They don't. If you want to build a charging station on your privately held land with your own money, have at it. What you need approval for is to participate in a federal grant program to make interstate travel by e-vehicle more convenient. If you want that grant, you need approval for your project to be funded under that program.

      The program doesn't want to fund charging stations where there are already others nearby; nor does it want to fund charging stations in the middle of nowhere far from any inter

  • And? (Score:1, Flamebait)

    by Chas ( 5144 )

    Just like the majority of charging stations, these will be backed by gas, diesel and NG generators.
    Not solar panels.

    • NotSureIfSerious.jpg

      • by Chas ( 5144 )

        VrySrs.png

    • Re:And? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Required Snark ( 1702878 ) on Tuesday September 27, 2022 @11:30PM (#62919669)
      What's your point?

      Fossil fuel electricity generation is less polluting then gas/diesel automobiles. And the amount of renewable energy on the grid is steadily increasing so the overall trend is away from fossil fuel and the accompanying pollution and C02 emissions.

      You comment shows a complete lack of thought. Your sig shows that you have a bloated ego. You are a prime example of the idiotic side of Slashdot.

      • The op isn't showing lack of thought. Given that he's repeating and endlessly debunked talking point from over a decade ago he must have displayed actual willful effort in retaining ignorance. It's simply not possible that someone can make that comment in 2022 without having been corrected about its stupidity in the past.

      • And slashdot only has one side!

    • Re:And? (Score:4, Informative)

      by ShanghaiBill ( 739463 ) on Tuesday September 27, 2022 @11:40PM (#62919681)

      Just like the majority of charging stations, these will be backed by gas, diesel, and NG generators. Not solar panels.

      Electric power is fungible, so it doesn't matter where it comes from.

      NG to EV is way more efficient than oil to ICE.

      • Just like the majority of charging stations, these will be backed by gas, diesel, and NG generators. Not solar panels.

        Electric power is fungible, so it doesn't matter where it comes from.

        NG to EV is way more efficient than oil to ICE.

        ... and it is amazing how many people have trouble understanding that. Plus, even in many red states, a whole lot of that fungible electric energy will come from wind farms and increasingly from solar. https://www.politico.com/newsl... [politico.com] ... so basically the GP is completely full of shit.

      • You're talking to the wind, my friend.

    • Re:And? (Score:5, Informative)

      by psycho12345 ( 1134609 ) on Wednesday September 28, 2022 @12:08AM (#62919739)
      Still better then cars. Cars by their very nature can never be as efficient as a power plant.
  • by Vandil X ( 636030 ) on Tuesday September 27, 2022 @11:39PM (#62919679)
    As an EV owner, one of the hurdles of a roadtrip is not just finding a DC Fast Charger, but one that is available for use.

    I own a Tesla Model 3, so the Supercharger network has most of my needs covered. Most superchargers have 4-8 spots, and sometimes there is a wait. People that idle get charged fees for using up the space to encourage them to move.

    When traveling out of the supercharger network, I rely on DC Fast Chargers and a CHAdeMO adapter. Usually these chargers have 1 pedestal with 1 CHAdeMO-compatible cable. If it's in use, well, you're going to be waiting an hour. That really puts a crimp on road trips. Depending on the provider network of the DC Fast Charger idle fees may or may not be charged to cars done charging, but using up the space.

    For these "every 50 miles" chargers, I hope they have 4-8 stalls like Tesla superchargers do, and have some idle fee system in place for people done charging.

    We'd also need some kind of parking enforcement to ticket/tow non-EVs that are using/blocking the spots.
    • People that idle get charged fees for using up the space to encourage them to move.

      It con only be a question of time before they automatically unplug themselves and move away from the charger. letting your car move up.

      Or, even simpler: Each charger could have half a dozen cables coming out of it. You plug in your car even if the charger is busy and it will start charging when the current car finishes.

      TLDR; Problems will be solved.

      • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

        Could be a very long time. Tesla showed off their robotic charger back in 2016, claiming it would be ready the next year.

        • Tesla showed off their robotic charger back in 2016, claiming it would be ready the next year.

          Yeah, but all the focus group responses were about tentacle porn so they decided to give their design a rethink.

          • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

            Honestly looks like classic engineering blindness. "We made a robot that can line up a charger and a charge port, can deploy it next week" when in fact it needs to work outdoors, in the rain, with humans around, occasionally gets hit by people who are bad at parking etc.

      • You plug in your car even if the charger is busy and it will start charging when the current car finishes.

        While this idea is a good one, the issue with implementing it would come down to cooling. Due to the amount of power being pumped through the cables they get hot and often have liquid cooling to deal with that, unfortunately this tends to require short runs to ensure adequate flow for cooling. To allow multiple cars to be plugged in you'd need longer cables plus a switching pump controller that'd know which car was being charged, ensuring the active cable is being cooled.

        It might be worthwhile for some stations which are exceedingly busy, most installations wouldn't be worth the extra cost or complexity though. That said for dual head CCS or dual head CHADeMo stations, I could totally see allowing both cars to plug in and having the person enter their billing details into the station so it'll auto charge once the other vehicle is done.

        Interestingly, if this problem becomes big enough, we'll likely see a return of "full service" stations in busy travel corridors where you'll park your car and go inside while a service attendant will move your car and plug it in for you and send a text / update the charging status board inside when it's done.

      • by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

        People that idle get charged fees for using up the space to encourage them to move.

        It con only be a question of time before they automatically unplug themselves and move away from the charger. letting your car move up.

        Or, even simpler: Each charger could have half a dozen cables coming out of it. You plug in your car even if the charger is busy and it will start charging when the current car finishes.

        TLDR; Problems will be solved.

        Fees are a simple way - which is why we should pepper workplaces and homes wit

    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 ) on Wednesday September 28, 2022 @04:31AM (#62920085) Homepage Journal

      In Europe, particularly Norway, you will find sites where there are 10+ chargers, with groups of them offered by different companies. So unlike a petro station you have a choice of which company you want to use, depending on your needs (350kW chargers tend to be a little more expensive than 150kW ones) and what discounts you have access to etc.

    • The problem is that each fast charger added slows down overall throughput unless you build significantly more power input. You need to charge 50kW in 15 minutes * 8, thatâ(TM)s ~800A in service at 240V continuously.

      And thatâ(TM)s just enough for a Chevy Volt, most vehicles will soon have 150-250kWh batteries to match ICE range capacity and large stations have 24 or more spots. Not sure where every gas station will find those HV power line direct attach services.

    • by chill ( 34294 )

      What is being built requires CCS connectors. Tesla just released their official one in the US a few days ago, but there have been third-party adaptors for some time. As those types of chargers are much more prolific than CHAdeMO -- which is pretty much just Nissan Leaf -- have you tried those?

      If you're interested in details, every State plan is located here [driveelectric.gov].

    • >We'd also need some kind of parking enforcement to ticket/tow non-EVs that are using/blocking the spots. With a lock on the charger handle that automatically unlocks when charging is done someone else could then use the cable to charge their EV. Or put multiple cables on each charger and the charger charges the cars in order, first come first served. Requires more parking spaces but gets more use out of each charger and ends the problem of someone blocking the charger after their EV is fully charged.
  • by SirKron ( 112214 ) on Tuesday September 27, 2022 @11:48PM (#62919697)
    Electric vehicle charging stations should be like ATMs you see in the convenience stores. Let the local power company have a profit center service to deploy them and let individual companies have them available for a part of the profit. If people buy the electric vehicles and charging them is profitable, then you will see charging stations pop up everywhere without the need for government intervention.
    • Wait... Are you implying the banking sector and roll out of cars based payment systems is free from government intervention? Wow.

      Also the free market has had its chance and is operating too slowly to achieve government goals. If you didn't have governments involved in pursuing infrastructure you'd either be in the dark ages or buying different electrical appliances depending on which city you're in.

    • That's how they are now. Any individual can buy a charger, site it, hook it up, and charge people to use it. But for lots of reasons, they are part of networks. Those convenience stores don't own those ATMs, they are owned by companies that own ATMs in hundreds of convenience stores.

    • Let the local power company have a profit center service to deploy them and let individual companies have them available for a part of the profit.

      This was the situation before federal intervention. Power companies weren't interested but private companies did it.

      If people buy the electric vehicles and charging them is profitable,

      This is a "chicken and the egg" situation which may gradually resolve itself in 20 years or so.

      then you will see charging stations pop up everywhere without the need for government intervention.

      The free market only works in a sane manner if it's composed of rational actors with perfect information. Since neither rational actors don't exist nor does perfect information, we have to work with what we have to slow down the devastating effects of climate change.

    • by dasunt ( 249686 )

      Let the local power company have a profit center service to deploy them and let individual companies have them available for a part of the profit. If people buy the electric vehicles and charging them is profitable, then you will see charging stations pop up everywhere without the need for government intervention.

      The free market would probably be better at handling this if we weren't subsidizing vehicle travel and actually charging drivers of internal combustion engines for the pollution they cause.

      Dist

    • by mjwx ( 966435 )

      Electric vehicle charging stations should be like ATMs you see in the convenience stores. Let the local power company have a profit center service to deploy them and let individual companies have them available for a part of the profit. If people buy the electric vehicles and charging them is profitable, then you will see charging stations pop up everywhere without the need for government intervention.

      The thing is, ATMs are becoming less and less convenient. Its pretty much easier and faster to go into the shop, buy a single item and withdraw cash at the self service checkout than look for an ATM.

      The problem with putting charging points everywhere is both availability and maintenance. My PHEV owning friend tells me out of the 10 odd chargers at his local supermarket, there will be maybe 1 or 2 working and usually a line for those. Stores loved putting them in, hate making sure they work, they've poppe

    • Electric vehicle charging stations should be like ATMs you see in the convenience stores. Let the local power company have a profit center service to deploy them and let individual companies have them available for a part of the profit. If people buy the electric vehicles and charging them is profitable, then you will see charging stations pop up everywhere without the need for government intervention.

      They should someday, but ATMs didn't start that way either. Here's an article from 97 talking about the novelty of using them at convenience stores. They'd been around about 30 years at that point.
      https://www.sfgate.com/busines... [sfgate.com]

      Here's an article from 91 that goes over the history of shared ATM networks. ATM networks were anti-competitive against smaller banks and non-banks for a while, laws were changed, lots of self-regulating, etc. I think what you find in the late 90's might have been a result of n

  • Whooot! Santa can early this year.
    Hopefully he brings the electric infrastructure to support this endevour next year.

  • Assuming there would be any funds left after the decade of studies for the optimal charger placement.
  • by gosso920 ( 6330142 ) on Wednesday September 28, 2022 @08:41AM (#62920551)
    Or, " How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love to Spend Other People's Money"
    • Perhaps, but at least some of the "other people" who'll get jobs doing the install and supporting it after will be paid to do it and they'll spend that money in their local economy which is a good thing all around. Sure there's gonna be waste, pretty much any government program has waste, but public infrastructure projects at least provide some benefit for the "little guy".

      You wanna talk about "spending other people's money" then let us talk about tax cuts which only benefit the very top. Every time the g

  • by Locke2005 ( 849178 ) on Wednesday September 28, 2022 @09:09AM (#62920623)
    People have started vandalizing charging stations, as well as parking their big diesel penis size compensator trunks blocking them.
    • People have started vandalizing charging stations, as well as parking their big diesel penis size compensator trunks blocking them.

      People... What a bunch of bastards.

  • More subsidies for the well-to-do, based on religion.

  • by larryjoe ( 135075 ) on Wednesday September 28, 2022 @02:36PM (#62921839)

    There are big challenges to building EV charging infrastructure, even just for the very limited goal of allowing recharging on major highways. These are not insurmountable challenges, but they will be costly and disruptive.

    First, since traffic along different highways at different times is variable, each station needs to be overprovisioned to allow handling the expected highest demand.

    Second, average traffic patterns evolve over time, so the charging infrastructure building needs to be amenable to expansion. This expansion especially needs to account for an expected explosion in EV usage. For example, current EV registrations in the US were about 1 million cars [electrek.co] at the end of 2021, compared to about 289 million total cars [financesonline.com]. So, within 10 years, the number of cars and needed charging stations could increase 10-100x or more. This increase exacerbates the required overprovisioning.

    Third, until average recharging times decrease significantly (say, to about the five-minute range that we currently see for gas cars), long lines will form at the busiest charging stations. Quick charges that only result in less than 100% of a full charge only kick the problem down to the next charging station, as more charging stops are needed.

    Fourth, the combination of EV usage expansion and the need to provision each station with a large number of chargers will require electrical distribution networks to be redesigned and planned specifically for these stations. For example, a station with 100 chargers capable of 75 kW uses a max of 7.5 MW, which is not an insignificant amount of power to provide to a single station.

    • Five minute range? The average gas pump in North America transfers at a rate of 50L/min. I have a large truck with a 100L tank, so 2 minutes max, for perhaps 800km of range. Electric vehicles have a lot further to go, capability wise, than the proponents want to acknowledge.

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