Charging network has a lot of catching up to do

When it comes to the emerging electric vehicle market, "range anxiety" is evolving into "charger anxiety."

Most EVs now being pumped into the future product pipeline have hundreds of miles of rated range, more than enough for daily driving. But extended or extensive use demands ample and widespread availability of charging.

Research firm Guidehouse Insights estimates there are 1.1 million battery-electric vehicles on the road in North America and 1.7 million chargers. It says there still will be more chargers than BEVs in North America in 10 years. By this standard, there isn't much for consumers to worry about on the charging front.

But there's a catch: Most of the chargers cited by Guidehouse are home chargers.

For suburban homeowners with access to a garage and a plug, it is simple to own an EV for regular use since it can easily be charged overnight.

But for those doing highway driving for a road trip or long-haul business excursion, as well as those in multifamily housing without a garage or plug, public chargers — and in particular, fast chargers — need to be more accessible.

"Infrastructure work is ongoing now," said Nick Nigro, founder of EV research group Atlas Public Policy. But "we'll likely need to accelerate that investment in anticipation of these vehicle models coming up that the auto industry is hopeful to sell in the tens of thousands per month."

Anticipation it is. There has been a steady stream of EV announcements from automakers in recent months, even during the pandemic. (See Page 10 for EV plans through 2024.)

General Motors now holds partnerships with companies such as Honda Motor Co. and LG Chem as part of its bullish commitment to the future of electrification.

Ford Motor Co.'s Mustang Mach-E crossover has sped up the automaker's once-lagging EV ambitions, and production of the F-150 EV is set to start in 2022.

Volkswagen Group said in 2018 that it would spend $52 billion through 2023 as part of a push for what is now more than 50 electric models by 2025.

Outside the traditional auto realm, ride-hailing giant Uber has pledged that every vehicle on its platform across the globe will be electric by 2040. Rival Lyft has pledged to do the same by 2030.

"It's not a question of if we are going to electrify our transportation sector, it's a question of when," said Ben Prochazka, vice president of the Electrification Coalition, a nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization that supports EV adoption.

For many in the industry, stricter vehicle emissions targets abroad, as well as in some states, have sparked these ambitions.

Just last month, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state plans to ban the sale of new gasoline-powered passenger vehicles starting in 2035 and that it will require the sale of nothing but zero-emission vehicles starting that year.

Still, EV makers targeting the U.S. have some work to do.

The low cost of oil in the U.S. is a large incentive for Americans to stick with internal combustion engines; at the same time, questions remain about the charging infrastructure needed to accommodate EVs.

Since concerns about range often take precedence over the environmental benefits of an EV, a surefire way to get consumers interested is to assure them they have access to charging.

"It's not chicken and egg; it's peanut butter and jelly," said Jonathan Levy, vice president of business development at charging network EVgo.

EVgo builds its chargers just ahead of the market in order to accommodate existing demand, while making sure not to build too many so they go unused or aren't located effectively.

"We need both," Levy argued. "We need more chargers to accommodate the growth of vehicles."

In the U.S., various stakeholders, including industry leaders, policymakers, cities and advocacy organizations, have launched regional and national initiatives to address consumer charging concerns.

DTE Energy and Consumers Energy announced last month that they would join four other energy companies across the Midwest to establish an interstate network of fast charging stations stretching from Michigan to Kansas.

EVgo will add more than 2,700 fast chargers to cities and suburbs starting next year, the company announced in July with GM, which is partnering with it on the effort.

Electrify America, the public charging subsidiary of Volkswagen that grew out of the automaker's emissions scandal settlement, has 400 charging stations with more than 1,700 chargers nationwide and expects to have twice those numbers by the end of next year.

Cities have been implementing changes at smaller scales. A $6.7 million U.S. Department of Energy grant will add 70 charging stations in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn., over the next two years, including some that can charge an EV in less than 30 minutes.

On the policy side, U.S. Reps. Andy Levin, D-Mich., and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., unveiled the Electric Vehicle Freedom Act in Congress in February. The bill sought to create a network of high-speed charging stations along the public roads of the national highway system within five years, but it has not advanced.

Even with all the infrastructure and product plans in the works, concerns over charging infrastructure will remain "first and foremost" in consumer minds, Nigro said.

Home charging, where available, is the preferred method for consumers, but spotty access to fast chargers during road trips is still the quintessential problem standing in the way of widespread EV adoption, even if consumers only take these trips a few times a year.

"A lot of people, a lot of stakeholders, a lot of even consumers, think that electric vehicle charging infrastructure has to look identical to gas station infrastructure," said Alfred Artis, sustainability policy analyst at Consumer Reports. "Frankly, that's not what the data suggests at the moment."

In some parts of the U.S., charging infrastructure complements the growth of EVs, but "the challenge that the EV market will face is as it starts to branch out into other parts of the country where you might not get as much bang for your buck for the investment in infrastructure," Nigro said.

Another charging issue arises in cases of multifamily housing.

"It will require long-term investment in order to upgrade multifamily dwelling parking infrastructure right now to give those residents the same kind of charging access that folks who live in a single-family home or a duplex or triplex with access to a garage, which would have access to a plug," Artis said.

An open question remains how many chargers would it take — and where they should be, whether at gas stations, convenience stores or otherwise — to get Americans more comfortable with going EV. John Eichberger, executive director of the Fuels Institute, a transportation energy research group, says his organization is studying consumer behavior relative to EV charging.

"The American consumer is definitely always looking for that extreme-case scenario," said Eichberger. "They want to make sure they have access to electricity anytime, anywhere, just like they have access to gasoline.

"We're going to have to overbuild infrastructure beyond what we may 'need' because the consumer wants that comfort, that reassurance."