Slow rollout of charging system may hinder progress
More than two years ago, lawmakers approved billions of dollars to build out a national electric vehicle charging network in the hopes of encouraging more drivers to switch to cleaner cars. The money, included in the bipartisan infrastructure law, was intended to help assure drivers they could travel longer distances reliably without running out of power.
But a robust federal charging network is still years away. Only two states — Ohio and New York — have opened any charging stations so far. A handful of others have broken ground on projects in recent weeks, with the aim of completing them in early 2024. In total, 28 states, plus Puerto Rico, have either awarded contracts to build chargers or started accepting bids for projects as of Dec. 15. The rest are much further behind on starting construction.
Broad availability of chargers is critical for the Biden administration’s goal of getting EVS to make up half of new car sales by 2030. Americans routinely cite “range anxiety” as one of the biggest impediments to buying an EV. About 80% of respondents cited concerns about a lack of charging stations as a reason not to purchase an EV, according to an April survey from the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago and The Associated PressNORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
The Biden administration is trying to entice consumers to buy EVS by offering tax credits of up to $ 7,500 and by promising to build out a national backbone of high- speed chargers. That network is meant to give drivers the assurance that they could reach a reliable charger every 50 miles along major roads and highways.
The White House has set a goal of building a national network of at least 500,000 public chargers by 2030, but researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory have projected that the country will need more than 1 million public charging ports by the end of the decade.
Ben Shapiro, a researcher at RMI, a nonprofit that promotes the energy transition, said the country needs to accelerate the pace of new charging infrastructure considerably. “People certainly have this perspective that there isn’t enough charging,” Shapiro said. “And that, I think, does hamper people’s interest in EVS.”
EV sales have been climbing faster than any other major category of automobile, with the nation on track to hit more than 1 million sales for the first time this year. President Joe Biden’s signature climate law, the Inflation Reduction Act, also has spurred a surge of investment in EV production across the country. But demand has not grown as much as expected.
Some state transportation officials said the rollout has taken more than two years because they had little experience building chargers and it has been challenging to navigate new federal requirements.
In Tennessee, officials started reviewing bids for contracts after closing applications last month. Preston Elliott, a deputy commissioner of the state’s transportation department, said he thought Tennessee was moving quickly, but it still took officials about two years to get to that stage, in part because they had to submit two plans to the federal government and wanted to have conversations with stakeholders before opening bids.
“Federal funds come with lots of requirements and lots of strings,” Elliott said. “I’ve been doing this for about 30 years, and this is the first time I’ve ever encountered a program where you’ve had to do so much planning before you spend a penny.”
The U. S. Department of Transportation issued final rules for the program early this year, outlining the technological requirements and standards that have to be met. Chargers must be within a mile of an interstate exit or highway and have four ports that are all operational and meet minimum power levels 97% of the time.
But the law gave states flexibility to determine how to award contracts and dole out funds, resulting in varying degrees of progress.
Ohio became the first state to open a charger funded by the new program earlier this month. Gov. Mike Dewine, a Republican, cited charging concerns as a primary reason for getting the system up and running. There are about 43,200 EVS registered in Ohio.
“This industry is not going to develop unless people think they have places where they can charge their car,” Dewine said. “We want to send the signal that not only are we getting companies in here that are building things for the future, but we want our consumers in Ohio to have the ability to benefit from that.”
Six more charging stations are being designed and expected to begin construction in the next month or two, state officials said. Officials expect to build about 50 charging stations by the end of 2026 to meet the program’s requirement.
Most states are well behind Ohio and New York. Although some are bidding out contracts to build the network, the actual installation of all of the chargers can take years to finish because projects have to clear environmental reviews and other bureaucratic hurdles in addition to the construction, state officials said. Some states are also building chargers in several phases.
“If you were talking about building a sidewalk, we build sidewalks all day long,” said Elliott. “When you start talking about a charging system, being open 24/ 7 and meeting certain power thresholds, I mean, think about the complexities of that.”
Elliott said Tennessee officials were planning to fund 32 charging stations and aimed to complete those projects in two years once contracts were awarded.
Some states with sparse populations and little charging infrastructure have taken longer to roll out their programs.
In Wyoming, the state’s transportation department began accepting responses this month from potential station owners to better gauge interest in using the federal funds, which can cover up to 80% of the project’s cost, plus operating expenses.
State officials said they did not know when or if they would award contracts because that would depend on the level of interest. Keith Fulton, an assistant chief engineer at Wyoming’s Transportation Department, said the process was taking more than two years partly because the department has never installed an EV charger before.
States also are considering the types of connectors they will need. Although they have to provide only ports with Combined Charging System connectors, some states, such as Texas, also will require the plugs that Tesla cars use. Ford and General Motors also have announced that they would equip future vehicles with Tesla’s ports.
Barbara Ziegler, 66, a psychologist in Sheridan, Wyo., said she welcomed more chargers, but she did not feel comfortable yet buying an electric car. She said she often drives more than 100 miles to see a diabetes specialist, attend conferences and go shopping in larger cities, and she was concerned about being stranded on the road because of the lack of chargers.
Ziegler said she would consider buying a hybrid car, but for now, she planned to stick with her 2012 Toyota RAV4 until it needed to be replaced.
“Here we have long, long highways without towns in between,” Ziegler said. “I would be too worried to try and do the drive just on electric.”