Priorities
Charging Infrastructure
Deploying electric vehicles at scale will require the construction of a network of charging infrastructure, both public and private.
While a substantial portion of charging can be done overnight at home, public charging options will provide drivers with added confidence and flexibility. The costs for public Level II (220/240V) electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) are highly dependent upon location, but hardware costs currently average $2,000 per unit. Level III direct current chargers used for ‘fast charging’ are significantly more expensive, but may provide a more conventional refueling option for customers in the near future.
The ability for EVSE and charger owners to recoup costs will depend on utilization rates and whether vendors are allowed to charge a premium for charging. Entrepreneurship and innovation will surely develop models for profitable operation, but in a country as geographically diverse and as large as the United States, it is difficult to imagine a scenario in which substantial government investment would not be required to assist in laying the backbone of the GEV charging network.
With limited exceptions, public charging infrastructure does not exist today. For that reason, and because the typical vehicle spends as much as 75 percent of its time parked at home, there is near universal agreement that each grid-enabled vehicle will need access to overnight charging. In many instances, homeowners do not have a 220 volt outlet in their garage or accessible to their driveways; a professional electrician would be required to install a 220 volt line and recharging equipment. Doing so could be costly, depending on the difficulty of running a wire from a home’s electrical panel to the garage. In order to ease and encourage this process, the Coalition recommends modifying building codes to promote GEV adoption.