White House Petition: Create Fast Charging EV Network To Accelerate Electrification
There is a petition on the website of the United States government’s White House to construct a network of fast chargers for plug-in vehicles. The petition states that the construction of this fast charging network will accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles.
There aren’t many electric vehicles on American roads right now. The number is growing fast. However, growth would surely be even stronger if more EV chargers were on the road. The increased ubiquity of charging stations enables more people to find charging stations, of course, but not only that — the sight of charging stations everywhere puts EVs on their minds and assures people that they will be able to recharge practically whenever they want if they switch to an EV.
Technically, most EV owners can recharge their electric vehicles overnight at home, as 120 volt power outlets are standard in US homes. However, public charging stations improve on that by enabling people to drive further than their EV range (which is per charge). The Nissan Leaf had a range of 73 miles per charge (the first one). However, it can travel twice that far if recharged after the first 73 mile trip.
Additionally, many people actually live in apartment buildings where it might be difficult to find a plug next to your parking place. More public EV charging stations are needed for many of them to switch to EVs.
You can’t put a million electric vehicles on the road without enough chargers!
Petition Text
Fast charging stations should be installed every 50 miles across the United States Interstate Highway System. These chargers will allow electric vehicles such as the Chevrolet Spark, Nissan Leaf and other vehicles to be recharged to 80% capacity in 20 to 30 minutes. This will allow drivers of electric vehicles the freedom to travel throughout the entire US without fear that they may run out of power.
There are huge societal benefits from switching to electric vehicles including reduced pollution, noise and dependence on foreign oil.
If you agree with this petition, sign it here!
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“You can’t put a million electric vehicles on the road without enough chargers!”
Exactly! More importantly, people won’t use public chargers if they take 4 hours. Time to get some faster infrastructure put in.
They won’t be taking 4 hours. Musk is already doing the Supercharger network and those are only supposed to take 30 mins… enough time to get lunch, sit down, eat, whizz and then take off.
Most public chargers are Level 2. They recharge at a rate of about 20 miles per hour (4 hours to charge a Nissan Leaf). Tesla Superchargers aren’t level 2 and they are only for Teslas which doesn’t help the rest of us. If DC quick charge stations were put in then someone could buy a $20k Chevy Spark (after tax credit) and recharge to 80% in 20 minutes.
I’m all about plug-in vehicles but before the government steps in and wastes a lot of our money, a single standard needs to be selected.
Right now, fast chargers come in three flavors: Chademo, SAE Combo plug and Tesla’s supercharger. Chademo is barely available and mostly at participating Nissan dealerships (not exactly convenient locations), the Combo is no improvement and doesn’t exist in the wild. Meanwhile Tesla’s Supercharger pumps out over twice as much energy as these two, has a solar component, and a burgeoning country-wide network.
It’s pretty clear which technology is the winner here and the other automakers need to get behind it before the government helps with infrastructure dollars.
drivin98,
you are right for the most part. SAE doesn’t exist in the real world and the Chademo connector isn’t available in a lot of places but that’s changing.
I agree that the Tesla charger is better but it’s Tesla’s charger and no one else’s. Unless the technology is given away for free and forces the other companies to adopt their technology then it’s not going to go anywhere. The chad connector has already been accepted on foreign cars and the American cars have already accepted the SAE connector so I don’t they are going to change their minds.
That only leaves us with supporting both technologies. One charging station with two different plugs. seems pretty simple.
As far as the government “wasting a lot of our money” the petition doesn’t say that the government has to supply all the money nor does it say that it can’t be a loan etc.