There’s still quite a bit of debate about the need for electric cars among many car enthusiasts. Fans of EVs argue that they’re not only the future but we have to push for them to be the present. While fans of traditional internal combustion cars argue that EVs just aren’t good enough and too far off. However, one thing we can all agree on is that, the future or not, there are just not enough places to charge.
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According to BNEF (Bloomberg New Energy Finance), the global electric vehicle market has reached over 5-million cars, while there are only about 632,000 charging stations worldwide. That’s a huge disparity in the supply and demand for EV charging. The International Energy Agency claims that if the global market share for EVs hits 30-percent by 2030, the world will need between 14-30 million charging stations. So we still have a very long way to go.
In my home state of New Jersey, there are only five charging stations per 100,000 residents. That’s far too little to make EVs easy to buy and own.
Despite California seeming like the greenest place in America and one of the greenest in the world, the US is actually only second in charging stations. China is said to have about half of the world’s charging stations and is way ahead of America.
But sparsity is only part of the problem. Another problem is charge time, as it can take hours to charge up most electric cars from flat to full. Most customers charge up at home but it can take hours there as well. If you charge it overnight, that’s not a problem but it is a problem in all other circumstances. Even the fastest of EV charging, using 800-volt tech, still takes at least 30 minutes, which is still very far off of just filling up a gasoline car.
Another large problem is standardization, or lack thereof. Certain plugs don’t work with certain cars and some require adapters. It’s complicated and confusing and brands like Tesla that don’t wanna share are making it worse.
So EV charging needs to improve. We need better standardization, we need more infrastructure development and we need faster charging times. Until those things happen, EVs can’t become as mainstream as traditional automobiles.
[Source: Bloomberg]
I totally agree. I have an i3 120Ah which I love, but the charging network in the U.K. aid pretty dire. Most chargers I try and use are either out of order or blocked by a petrol/diesel car. There’s still a long way to go
I personally think charging spots should be put far away from normal parking, this will only make charging easier for now. Or better yet have charging spots at a petrol garage, that would be a massive push to the infrastructure.
There is no infrastructure on the electricity networks to support charging. Not everyone in a street will be able to charge. At best 20% of residents will allowed a charging point. Otherwise fuses will blow at the substation. Otherwise replace the substation and RIP up the streets for new bigger cables.
If you live in a terrace or flat forget it. If you live in a semi or detached house you will have to contact your DNO for an increased load
So I will be surprised if EV ever make a 20% share of the market.
Typo: “and brand’s like Tesla”.
Other than that, I find some affirmations in the article, a bit exaggerated.
I think that the number of chargers is incorrect: the article itself states that some (probably quite a few) people charge at home. Those mobile charging stations I believe aren’t counted in those 632k chargers worldwide, whereas the number of EVs are based on sales numbers, to which the DIY electric conversions add little. Obviously, I’m not arguing with the fact that 22kW and higher power chargers are painfully scarce.
Standardization: North America CCS1 (backwards compatible with Type 1), China GB/T, Japan CHAdeMO. Europe and the rest of the world use CCS2 (backwards compatible with Type 2). From a global manufacturers’ point of view, it’s bad. However, unless the user imports the car, they can use that country’s, heck, that continent’s standard connector. Oh, and if Tesla opened up the connector, they’d lose their advantage of being the first with an extensive charging network. You can’t expect that.
Charging time: I have not measured with a stopwatch yet, but I’m pretty sure that filling up the tank with gas takes more than three minutes. Compared to thirty minutes to charge, three minutes would be far off. If filling up takes fifteen minutes – my guess -, it’s not that far off. Also, you either go for a long trip, or a short one. On a long trip, a half hour charge is not that bad, after every couple of hours or more. On a short city trip, ten minutes or less to charge and get home, is not that bad, again.
I’m not saying that these are inexistent problems, because they are, very much so. I’m just saying that they shouldn’t be overblown and that we are aware of them, nagging in the back of the head, but in day to day life, they don’t bother us that much. It’s like smartphones: they live a day, maybe two, compared to the old Nokias’ week long battery lives. However, they offer so much more, that we just put up with it.
Several fallacies in this article. EV’s biggest hurdle is the shitty selection and somewhat high cost of entry. Sure a Nissan Leaf is relatively affordable but do you really want to drive one if you’re not trying to make a green statement? Tesla hyperbole aside is okay and somewhat lacking in the feature department (no HUD, extremely limited color options, etc.). More EV cars are starting to come out which will help with this problem but you can still get more car for your money if you go with an ICE vehicle. Charging stations are not an obstacle for many people anymore although the perception that charging stations are limited is still there. Homes already have the ability to trickle charge overnight when power grids are not under load. Installing an L2 charger at home isn’t any more expensive than 1 year of fuel at the pump. Not to mention that you no longer need to make frequent stops at the fuel station since you can charge at home and at many places of work. I still drive gas vehicles (a V8 and an I-6) and as soon as electrics offer me comparable level of car for the money then I’m switching. I’m a torque junkie.
Keep in mind, it’s an article by Bloomberg, we only published their findings
We are indeed far from better infrastructure but this will get better in less than 5yrs, but that doesn’t mean we should not buy the cars because the market is crying for them. Better charging speeds and range will only be visible in maybe 2027 with solid state batteries, for now we’ll have to settle with what we have…charge home for long hours or on these super chargers but still for some time of 40 minutes or more. It will get better with time.