EV Charging is About to Get A Lot Easier

Whether you love ‘em or hate ‘em, there are some clear challenges to owning an EV, starting with using public chargers. The good news is that more and more are going in across the country – and seemingly by the day. And it’s about to get easier to use them without having to set up separate accounts with each charger brand. In fact, you’ll soon be able to “plug-and-charge” without having to use an app or credit card, making the process even easier than getting gas.

America’s EV public charging network is a bit like “the Wild West,” according to a recent report by the Harvard Business School which found “widespread dissatisfaction with the current state of EV charging infrastructure.”

You don’t have to talk to a Harvard professor to know that, in many parts of the country, it can be challenging to find chargers – which often don’t work as well as they should. There are a variety of different brands, each with their own apps and accounts that you have to sign up for. And pricing can vary quite widely, though that’s something that owners of gas vehicles also are familiar with going from one service station to the next.

The good news is that charging companies, prodded by EV makers, regulators and consumers, are racing to address those problems. Expect to find more and more chargers, even in sparsely traveled regions of the country – and expect them to be more reliable, we’re told. Better yet, starting year it will become possible to plug into virtually any brand of charger with minimal hassle.

You won’t even have to open an app, punch account information into the charger keypad or swipe a credit card. Plug-and-charge technology will let your car “talk” to the charger, instantly sharing billing information automatically.

Where the public chargers are

Federal data show there now are 69,004 public charging stations across the U.S., with 193,583 charging ports in operation as of the beginning of December. About 9% of those, or roughly 14,000, are DC fast chargers according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Depending upon their power levels and the specific vehicle, they can yield up to an 80% battery boost in 15 to 30 minutes. The percent of quick chargers has been on the rise, reflecting the need for travelers to get a fast boost while on the road.

Not surprisingly, you’ll find it easy to locate chargers in high-traffic areas, especially those in places where EV adoption has been greatest. In California, EVs now account for more than 26% of new vehicle sales, automaker data reveal – with over 2 million battery-electric vehicles now registered. The state has 16,555 charging stations and 48,661 ports. Second on the list is New York with 4,519 stations and 15,809 ports.

At the other extreme, with just 949 EVs registered, North Dakota has 111 stations and 312 chargers. Alaska actually has more EVs on the road, at 2,697, but only 65 public stations and 139 chargers.

The numbers are rising fast

The number of charging ports – think of them as the electric equivalent of gas nozzles – has risen by nearly 11,000 over the last half year. And a variety of factors are contributing to the rapid roll-out. That includes the Biden administration’s move to distribute about $6 billion in funds allocated under the Inflation Reduction Act.

The majority of the plugs are being put in place by roughly a half-dozen major charger brands, the largest – ChargePoint – setting up 37,072 stations with 66,811 ports, the DoE reports.

In some instances, businesses are installing chargers on their own. This is becoming increasingly common at hotels, parking structures, even banks, office buildings and restaurants where management sees the benefit of drawing in EV owners. Often, these businesses are partnering with charger companies. But others are teaming up with automakers. A total of 60 Volvo-branded chargers are being installed at 15 Starbucks outlets along the 1,350-mile route between Denver and the chain’s headquarters in Seattle, a corridor that had been seen as a charger “desert” until now.

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Automakers accelerate the rollout

Tesla today runs one of the biggest networks, with 2,475 Supercharger stations with 28,625 quick-charge plugs. Its 4,433 Destination locations offer 14,310 slower Level 2 charge ports. Over the past year, Tesla has inked agreements with virtually every other automaker allowing their customers access to the Supercharger and Destination chargers. And the industry is in the process of switching – in the U.S. – to Tesla’s unique NACS port, abandoning the CCS and CHAdeMO standards.

Other automakers have been entering the public charging business. Mercedes-Benz, for one, is setting up a small network of its own in areas where it has had high-volume demand for its EVs.

Rivian has established 91 Adventure Network locations – all but one offering at least six ports—with 12 more in the works. They’re located, as the name implies, near national park and other places where its owners can go adventuring. And, most feature bathrooms, even lounges, where EV owners can relax while recharging. Significantly, Rivian on December 6 announced it will begin opening the network up to other automakers, starting at the Joshua Tree location.

Teaming up

Partnerships, in all their forms, are becoming increasingly popular. General Motors and EVgo teamed up several years ago and now have 390 locations with 2,000 fast chargers installed.

“Our collaboration with EVgo underscores our dedication to providing EV drivers with the best possible experience by expanding fast charging infrastructure across the country,” said Wade Sheffer, Vice President, GM Energy.

GM is also one of seven automakers who, in July 2023 announced the formation of an ambitious new charging network, Ionna. The group also debuted with Mercedes, Hyundai, Kia, BMW, Honda and Stellantis as partners, though Toyota signed on this past summer. The partnership received regulatory approval in July and is in the process of installing the first of a planned 30,000 public chargers.

Plug-and-Charge

One of the annoying realities today is that EV owners typically need to set up separate accounts for every individual charger company they might need to use, downloading another app and, in some cases, even putting some cash in a digital wallet. Go to plug in and you still likely have to access a keypad on the charger and may need to swipe a credit card.

Beyond finding more chargers on the road, the next big breakthrough will come with the adoption of the Plug-and-Charge standard. You can skip all the busy work and simply plug in. Your EV will pass all the necessary information directly to the charger automatically.

The concept is already in use when Teslas plug in at a Supercharger, and a variation is operating at EVgo locations – though only available with some EVs, such as the Volkswagen ID.4.

Here comes the new “universal Plug-and-Charge” initiative launched by SAE International – otherwise known as the Society of Automotive Engineers. Set to launch in early 2025, it will solve several problems. As is the case today when folks go to refuel their gas vehicles they simply need a credit card to access any service station. That will become the charging norm for EVs. You won’t even need to swipe a card, just plug in and relax.

It will require some software updates and it’s not clear all EVs now on the road will be able to take advantage of what is known technically as the Electric Vehicle Public Key Infrastructure. But it will become the norm going forward.

“We are rapidly approaching a future where every EV driver can just plug in, charge up, and go; the network will talk to your car and process the payment seamlessly,” Gabe Klein, executive director of the DoE’s Joint Office of Energy and Transporation, said in a statement. “This is a fundamental step in architecture toward enabling bidirectional charging and true vehicle-to-grid integration, the holy grail for energy and transportation.”