With War At Hand, What Will Happen To All Those New EV Charging Stations?

---

---

Last Updated on: 22nd June 2025, 08:30 pm

The law of unintended consequences is hard at work among Trump voters. Little did they know that their peace-loving candidate would transform, practically overnight, into a warmonger thrusting the stalwart youth of the US military into yet another soul-crippling forever war, alongside the potential for a gasoline price spike so those of us at home can experience at least a small part of the pain first hand. Meanwhile, savvy householders are making a run on EVs. Maybe all those new EV charging stations won’t go to waste, after all.

No, Really, What’s Going To Happen To All Those New EV Charging Stations?

The rush to build EV charging stations in the US has continued apace this year, even though Republican members of Congress are poised to pass a new tax bill that eliminates the current $7,500 credit for EVs. Many auto industry observers anticipate that loss of the tax credit will effectively kill off the market for electric mobility in the US.

If you’re wondering where the Democrats are on this, ask a Democrat. The fact is that until the midterm elections roll around in 2026, the Republicans can get a lot of stuff done (or not done) in Congress without any help from the Democrats, because they control both the House and Senate by majority.

So, what’s with the rush to build new EV charging stations? Won’t they all go to rust and ruin if the US EV market collapses? Those are good questions. Even before Trump ordered up the bombing of Iran, auto industry analysts including CleanTechnica editor Zachary Shahan were anticipating that EV sales could shoot up in the US over the short term as drivers rush to take advantage of the tax credit before it falls under the Republican budget-cutting boot. If they aren’t rushing quite yet, that’s because the tax bill hasn’t come up for a final vote quite yet.

There’s also still a possibility, though a very remote one, that Congress will be forced to retain the tax credit. Aside from the sheer stupidity of pulling the rug out from a crucial domestic industry that has staked billions of investor dollars on federal support for electrification — including supply chains as well as automakers — there’s the pesky matter of the Senate Parliamentarian.

For reasons too wonky to discuss in detail here, last week the Senate Parliamentarian ruled that Republican members cannot actually throw just any old provision into the new tax bill. For example, they want to include a provision that eliminates stricter Biden-era limits on emissions, but the Parliamentarian ruled that they cannot.

That creates a whole new headache for the US auto industry. After all, how will they meet the new emissions limits when the best tool in their toolkit, vehicle electrification, suffers a mortal wound due to loss of the tax credit?

What Do The EV Charging Stakeholders Know That We Don’t? (Hint: Energy Storage)

Meh. Who cares about the US auto industry anyways. Maybe the oil industry does, because that’s where a lot of its product goes. If you have any thoughts about that, drop a note in the comment thread.

In the meantime, players in the EV charging station field are forging ahead as if the market for zero-emission mobility will continue to gain momentum long after Trump leaves office — peacefully this time, one hopes — on January 20, 2029.

One of the challenges to be solved is the long timeline required to install new EV fast charging stations, which typically require new trenches for new electrical infrastructure and an upgrade to grid resources as well.

Energy storage has been emerging as a workaround. The idea is to integrate batteries with charging stations, enabling the station to recharge at a slow rate whenever grid conditions are optimal, then discharge at a rate fast enough to satisfy impatient EV drivers (see more battery-enabled EV charging station background here).

In the latest development, the iconic US wholesale buyers’ club Costco is serving as a showcase for a battery-enabled rapid-fire EV charging station model developed by the Seattle-based startup Electric Era, which claims that it can construct fast charging stations in about ¼ the time it takes for conventional installations.

New EV Charging Stations Are Coming For Your Fossil Fuels

Located at Costco’s North Port warehouse in Florida, the three-unit, six-port charging station can deliver a state of charge up to 80% in 20–60 minutes. All three units sport one CCS and one NACS cable each, to provide a charge for just about any EV on the road.

The quick turnaround time is the primary selling point of Electric Era’s business model. They started the clock for the Costco project on April 7, when the contract was inked. Permits were lined up for delivery of the hardware by mid-May, construction took only 10 days, the new facility sailed past its final inspection on May 29, and Electric Era turned on the juice one day later, on May 30.

“The installation time advantage is driven by Electric Era’s patented battery-backed architecture, which significantly reduces peak grid input power requirements and dramatically simplifies the complexity of most installations while reducing grid power consumption up to 70%,” Electric Era explained in a press statement last week.

Unlike conventional fast-charging projects, there is no need for a grid upgrade. That saves money on infrastructure and squeezes the permitting timeline down to the bone. Electric Era also notes that the upgrade-free installation can help support the site owner’s application for state and federal grants, such as they are.

Electric Era also leverages the the full resources and knowledge base of the charging station industry, meaning that site owners do not have to reinvent the EV charging station wheel for themselves.

“Electric Era also manages system engineering, supply chain procurement and manufacturing in-house to further improve quality and charging reliability, while also cutting installation time,” Electric Era reminds everyone.

“Our retail customers don’t want their lots torn up for years, they want fast, reliable EV charging systems to help them grow their business and boost their bottom line,” adds Electric Era CEO Quincy Lee.

They also don’t want the headaches of operating and maintaining their own charging stations. Electric Era takes care of all that. The company reports a 96% overall rating on PlugShare and charging session reliability rate of more than 90%. It’s similar to the turnkey model at work among startups looking to deconstruct the charging station bottleneck posed by multi-household rental properties, among others.

Yet Another Opportunity Skipped Over By Tesla

Another interesting angle on Electric Era’s business model is the focus on retailers. Aside from urban core sites, the US retail sector is characterized by vast parking lots, with ample space to accommodate EV charging stations.

Electric Era takes it to the next level by enabling retailers to stamp their own John Hancock on their own charging stations. “Every Electric Era charging station installation comes with branding and loyalty integration capabilities,” Electric Era emphasizes, taking note of its ability to integrate with branded loyalty sale promotions. Each charging station sports a 32-inch touchscreen that retailers can stamp with their brand identity and point-of-sale promotions.

That’s a significant contrast with the Tesla Supercharger model, which insists on displaying the Tesla brand front and center.

That insistence on charging station brand identity helped Tesla in the short run, but the game has changed now that the mighty C-Store (convenience store) industry has caught wind of the opportunity. The global firm Applegreen, for example, is replacing Supercharger stations at state-controlled rest stops along Interstate highways in New Jersey and New York because it won competitive contracts for the whole food-plus-fuel concession, not just the EV amenities.

The iconic US firm Circle K is among other leading brands jumping on the opportunity to spread their name into the market for EV drivers, here in the US as well as its overseas markets.

Image (screenshot): Trump or no Trump, stakeholders in the EV charging station field anticipate strong demand for a reliable public charging network (interactive charging station map courtesy of US Department of Energy)