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Nearly three times more electric vehicle (EV) chargers need to
be installed each quarter along highway corridors or in publicly
accessible spots to meet US President Joe Biden's goal of having
500,000 charging ports in place by 2030, a National Renewable
Energy Laboratory (NREL) report found.
Released 28 December, the report assessing the state of EV
infrastructure across the US in the second quarter of 2021 said an
average of 5,322 public EV ports had been installed in each quarter
since 2020. But NREL researchers say approximately 14,706 new
public installations will be required each quarter for the next
nine years to meet the Biden administration's 2030 target.
When comparing the current rate of deployment, "it is clear that
the pace of installations will need to significantly increase,"
NREL researchers Abby Brown, Johanna Levene, Alexis Schayowitz, and
Emily Klotz wrote.
However, the US can meet Biden's 2030 charger goal much earlier
than expected to coincide with surging demand, Mark Boyadjis, IHS
Markit global automotive technology lead, told
Net-Zero Business Daily 3 January. IHS Markit
projects there will be 9.3 million EVs on US roads by 2026, up from
1.5 million EVs in 2020, he said.
In fact, IHS Markit's automotive team projects an additional
600,000 charging units will be needed in public spaces and
workplaces by 2026 to meet EV demand.
According to NREL, the number of public EV ports in the US
increased by 5,006 in Q2, bringing the total to 105,765 and
representing a 5.0% increase since the first quarter of 2021.
NREL analyzed the pace of EV charging port installation based on
data collected in its Station Locator database from public and
private nonresidential alternative fueling stations in the US and
Canada, where it also currently tracks ethanol (E85), biodiesel,
compressed natural gas, hydrogen, liquefied natural gas, and
propane stations.
Among the various types of public EV charging ports, NREL said
Level 2, 240-volt ports have the largest share of the overall pie,
though Q2 saw the fastest rate of installation for DC fast ports
with a 450 or more volt charging capacity. Level 2 ports can add 10
to 24 miles range to an average EV battery over an hour, while DC
fast charge ports can add 60 to 80 miles or more of traveling range
in as little as 20 minutes.
More DC fast chargers needed
"Building out the country's network of public DC fast chargers
will be critical to supporting EV adoption in the US," the report
said, noting that such chargers have a typical power output of 50
kW, though higher levels of power output are increasingly becoming
more available.
However, DC fast chargers are more expensive (about $100,000 or
more depending on the wattage being installed) than Level 2
chargers (about $30,000) to install. That is because Level 2
chargers operate on AC power that can be taken directly from the
grid, whereas DC fast chargers have higher technical requirements
and need added infrastructure in the form of transformers to
convert the alternating current, Boyadjis explained.
In its 15 November note, IHS Markit analysts said the recently enacted,
bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which includes
$7.5 billion primarily for EV chargers and supporting
infrastructure, will fund the construction, maintenance, and
operation of an estimated 400,000 newly installed Level 2 and DC
fast chargers between 2022 and 2026.
"The Biden administration's investment isn't hyperbole and will
have a significant impact on US electric vehicle charging supply,"
said Boyadjis. "However, even an investment at this scale will come
up short against the rapid growth of electric cars hitting the road
soon, pointing to a need for additional support."
Filling the gap
That gap, Boyadjis said, will have to be filled by funding from
states, utilities, municipalities, and other private pools of
money.
The Edison Electric Institute (EEI), a trade group representing
power utilities, estimates more than 100,000 EV fast charging ports
will be needed to meet the projected 22 million EVs that it says
will ply US roads in 2030.
EEI is helping to spearhead the charging effort from the utility
sector. EEI announced 7 December that the
Electric Highway Coalition has
joined forces with the Midwest Electric Vehicle Charging
Infrastructure Collaboration to form the National Electric Highway
Coalition.
Comprised of 51 investor-owned electric companies, one electric
cooperative, and the Tennessee Valley Authority, the coalition's
goal is to provide EV charging ports along major US transportation
corridors by the end of 2023.
During a recent online discussion on the
status of EV infrastructure in the US, Colleen Jansen, chief
marketing officer for California-based ChargePoint, a leading EV
charging network, said charging will have to be integrated to where
people spend the most time.
That means going beyond publicly accessible corridors such as
highways to installing charging ports in multi-dwelling units and
homes as well as places of work. "Charging will have to be
integrated to where people spend [most of their] time," she
added.
Overall, the report found that California-based ChargePoint
showed the most growth in public charged ports (42.4%) in Q2, but
most of their chargers were of the Level 2 variety. Among DC fast
chargers, Tesla Supercharger maintained its dominance with a 56.8%
market share, followed by Electrify America at 14.7%, and EVgo with
8.1%. ChargePoint was in fourth place with 7.8% of total DC fast
charging ports.
At the end of July 2021, ChargePoint had more than 118,000 publicly
available chargers globally, including more than 3,700 DC fast
charging ports. Of this total, 45,000 were located in Europe. Based
on its 31 October earnings report, ChargePoint's network of
publicly available chargers has expanded to 163,000.
ChargePoint is "working actively" with the federal government
and states to use the $5 billion in the Infrastructure Investment
and Jobs Act to "accelerate the buildout of EV charging
infrastructure," Anne Smart, ChargePoint vice president for public
policy, told Net-Zero Business Daily in a 4 January
email.
"As more and more Americans embrace electric mobility, private
industry is actively building charging infrastructure across the
nation—and that is not going to change," she added.
Posted 04 January 2022 by Amena Saiyid, Senior Climate and Energy Research Analyst