Electric vehicle charging needs a ‘Goldilocks solution’

While it is less expensive to charge your electric vehicle at home, using a public station will become inevitable.

It's a reality that concerns owners and deters others from making the switch.

The solution, however, will involve hitting a precise target of stations, charging technology and economic impacts, experts say.

A reliable charging infrastructure is an important piece of a complex puzzle. As the number of charging station installations increases, so do the challenges involving their operation and maintenance.

Despite pathways being created by government and industry stakeholders to bolster the charging infrastructure, a combination of factors – including price, reliability, lifestyle changes, and range – have led to underwhelming EV sales.

Robert Charette, a longtime systems engineer, contributing editor for IEEE Spectrum, and author of “The EV Transition Explained,” told The Center Square, that isolating any of the components cannot be done as they are all interconnected like a spider web.

“Everything you do touches something else,” he said.

A large issue, he said, is the electrical infrastructure – generation, transmission and distribution – and its intersection with business, residential, apartments and rural communities. Other concerns include reliability, profitability, software security and cable theft.

Charette says charging infrastructure terminology can be confusing. To clarify, a charging station is a location with one or more charging posts installed. A charging post may have one or more ports, and each port can charge a single vehicle.

Equipment and power levels at charging stations vary. There are three types of chargers operating under different charging speeds:

Level 1 chargers plug directly into residential 120-volt outlets, providing approximately three to five miles of range per charging hour. An empty EV battery could take 40 to 50 hours to fully charge.

Level 2 chargers – the most widely used for public charging stations currently – can be installed at home using 240-volt outlets, similar to those used for home appliances like washing machines. They offer 18 to 28 miles of range per charging hour, requiring four to 10 hours to charge an empty EV battery.