3 EV Questions for the Biden Administration
President Biden has made it clear where he stands on EVs. The administration has committed to adding infrastructure in the form of 550,000 public EV chargers across the country and to electrify the government’s fleet of vehicles. These commitments are the latest in a trend of rapidly accelerating EV adoption, and there are 3 key questions to watch:
Where to build new public chargers?
Biden announced plans to add as many as 550,000 EV chargers, both DC fast and Level 2, across the US. Most current stations are found in parking garages, supermarket parking lots, and outside public buildings in major urban and suburban areas: locations that are quickly becoming saturated. These locations have worked well for early EV adopters who predominantly use at-home charging, but don’t add much value for apartment dwellers and urbanites that need a dedicated space to fully charge without installing their own charger. We need to think of new places to build chargers like curbside or around densely populated apartment buildings. Charging infrastructure needs to be ubiquitous and reliable for the next wave of consumers. According to a 2019 survey by Autolist, access to charging infrastructure is a top reason consumers cite for not purchasing an EV. Consumers need to feel comfortable that they could find a charging station as easily as a gas station. A 2021 study by MIT researchers published in Nature Energy estimated that increasing the availability of DC fast charging, workplace charging, and overnight public charging could meet the needs of 46% of drivers in Seattle.
Who will pay for infrastructure investments?
Public EV chargers see the vast majority of their use during daylight hours when energy demand is high. As a result, charge point operators struggle on a path to profitability given high demand charges from utilities. Additionally, increased charging infrastructure at the scale called for by the administration will require significant infrastructure investments from utility companies. For example, DC fast chargers can cost between $20,000 and $150,000 depending on power level, and that’s without factoring in the cost of upgrading transformers and other utility infrastructure. That cost will be passed onto consumers, and it is critical that it does not discourage the use of public charging. Just as the federal government subsidized the fossil fuel industry for decades, it will need to extend the same to utilities and charge point operators to encourage public charger use and promote EV adoption.
How will we accelerate fleet electrification?
President Biden announced plans to electrify all 650,000 vehicles in the U.S. government’s vehicles, but there has been no mention of a timeline. We expect orders to begin coming in to replace more specialized vehicles like the iconic mail truck by mid-year. As commercial fleet electrification catches on, especially in the trucking industry, we’ll need to evaluate the best locations for mega chargers (capable of delivering 400 miles of range in 30 minutes at 350kW+) and develop the electricity infrastructure needed to deliver that level of power. Power demand from multiple mega chargers requires as much energy as a small factory, which will require significant planning, investment, and route optimization to execute successfully.
To lead us into an electrified future, this administration will need to work closely with utility companies, charge point operators, and OEMs to strategically invest in and build the infrastructure needed over the next 4 years.
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