USA TODAY International Edition
Buying an EV? Here’s what you need to know
When Macy Claprood was making the commute to Miami for her summer job, she glanced at the instrument panel in her Nissan Leaf and realized she had to fill up — on electricity.
Claprood, 21, of Fort Lauderdale, had to stop halfway at a mall parking lot to top off the batteries in her electric car. She didn’t have a choice “because I wasn’t going to make it,” she said.
Every driver who decides to go electric faces the same anxieties about charging. It’s the more complicated part of owning an electric car, especially since outside the home garage, charging stations can be few and far between.
The good news is that powering up is only going to get easier and more convenient. Plus, there’s the payoff: the money saved by not having to buy gasoline.
Claprood paid $10 each time she used a station to recharge her Nissan Leaf in Miami — and appreciates the savings. On the Fort Lauderdale-to-Miami commute she was making last summer to her job teaching lifeguard lessons, she estimates she would have spent about $20 round-trip on gas in a conventional car. That’s one reason she loves her Leaf, which tops out at an electric range of about 107 miles.
“I don’t know that I could ever go back to gas,” Claprood said. “I like the car.”
With the current shortfall of charging stations, though, electriccar drivers admit to a hassle factor. More stations are coming, potentially making things easier for Claprood.
Here’s what to expect:
❚ Automakers step up their own charging plans: Volkswagen agreed to invest $2 billion over 10 years in U.S. electric-car infrastructure, including new stations and educational initiatives, as part of a federal settlement over its diesel emissions scandal. The first round of investments is focusing heavily on installation of stations in 17 metro areas, including six in California.
❚ Tesla vehicles get special treatment: Tesla continues to develop its own nationwide network of electric-car stations, dubbed superchargers. The company started 2017 with 5,000 superchargers globally and projected in April that it would finish the year with 10,000.
Tesla vehicles can also charge at public outlets and in the home.
❚ Home charging will be critical: For a few hundred or thousand dollars, electric-car owners can install a charging station at home. Since charging overnight is easy — it can even be done with a standard outlet — the Department of Energy projects that more than 90% of charging will take place in a residential setting, up from about 80% today.
Automakers are beginning to deliver electric cars that alleviate a condition known as “range anxiety,” which afflicts electric-car owners who fear they’ll run out of electricity on the road with nowhere to charge.
The Tesla Model 3, which began shipping to customers this fall at a starting price of $35,000 before tax incentives, is able to travel at least 220 miles on a charge. GM’s Bolt, available for sale nationwide for $37,500 before incentives, goes at least 238 miles on a charge.
Since the average commute is about 25 miles per day, “running out of energy is just not going to be that common,” said John Nielsen, managing director of automotive engineering for AAA.
❚ Workplace charging is becoming more common: Experts said employers are increasingly installing charging units as they realize it’s an amenity that helps keep workers happy.
“You’re going to charge wherever your car naturally parks, and where it parks the most is at home and work,” said Pasquale Romano, CEO of ChargePoint, which operates a network of charging stations and facilitates payments.
Drivers who rely on street parking might have to wait longer to go electric. Although some foreign cities are experimenting with curbside charging stations, it’s unlikely to come to U.S. streets anytime soon.