A nationwide charging network is an important piece of infrastructure, but it won’t be easy to promote.
President Joe Biden‘s proposed $2 trillion infrastructure bill would prioritize a nationwide electric vehicle charging network and commit to installing at least 500,000 chargers by 2030.
The Biden Administration has launched a $174 billion program to stimulate the development and adoption of electric vehicles, which includes funding for rebuilding factories and increasing the domestic supply of materials, tax incentives for electric vehicle buyers, and grants and incentive programs for basic charging facilities.
However, successful expansion of EV infrastructure cannot be achieved with government support alone. There are not enough EV owners to meet quantitative standards, and creating a charging network is more complex than it sounds. It requires citizen-camp partnerships working hand-in-hand, which may involve local governments, businesses and utilities as well as automakers and emerging EV charging companies. It’s not as simple as having a gas station at every intersection.
The $300 billion pie
AlixPartners estimates that creating a global charging network will require $300 billion to meet the expected growth of electric vehicles by 2030, including $50 billion in the U.S. alone. The cost of EV chargers varies depending on the “level” of the charger. The higher the level, the faster the charge, and the higher the installation cost.
Wakefield said, “It’s a big, hard pill for anyone to swallow.” While some automakers promise to charge up to 80 percent capacity in 10 minutes, “it’s going to be very, very expensive, especially for fast chargers.” By comparison, it takes hours to charge a low-level charger using a household power outlet. alixPartners estimates the average installed cost of a Level 3 charger at $12,000 to $260,000, “it’s not cheap.”
But the demand for charging networks doesn’t exist yet. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, plug-in vehicles, which cover all-electric vehicles and hybrids with conventional engines, will account for only about 2 percent of the 17 million new vehicles sold across the U.S. in 2019.
While automakers such as General Motors (GM) and Fuchs are investing heavily to improve performance and lower EV prices to keep up with tesla, they have little interest in building, owning and operating their own charging networks because of the disproportionate profit margins and operating volumes needed to sustain them. Tesla was an early leader in this business, creating its own charging network in response to demand and, to some extent, boosting sales of its own brand of electric vehicles.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, there are currently about 41,400 EV charging stations in the U.S., with fewer than 5,000 fast chargers. Meanwhile, there are more than 136,400 gas stations across the U.S., according to GasBuddy.
Charging station providers and operators are focusing their infrastructure primarily on urban and suburban areas, such as grocery stores and places where they do a lot of shopping. Companies see this as the main attraction for electric vehicle owners. Tesla has been creating such a network for owners for nearly 10 years.
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