The Race to Democratize Charging Infrastructure

According to a June 2021 study by the Fuels Institute, the top EV owner demographic in 2019 was white, middle-aged males with six-figure incomes, college degrees and at least one other vehicle in their households. This is because the majority of EVs just three years ago were luxury-focused, with correspondingly higher price points that made ownership by other demographics more of a challenge despite promised fuel cost savings and government-backed incentives. That was then; this is now. And as the old Virginia Slims ad used to say, “You’ve come a long way, baby.”

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In June of 2022, a Consumer Reports article detailed how several major auto manufacturers are electrifying large segments of their vehicle lineups, with a few announcing plans to go fully electric by 2027. This includes economy and mid-range models that eschew the bells and whistles that make luxury models so pricey. “These more affordable models have the potential to sway a significant percentage of the car-buying public toward… an EV with their efficiency, performance, and lower ownership costs,” said Gabe Shenhar, associate director of Consumer Reports’ Auto Test Center.

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The Fuels Institute speculates that EV sales will constitute as much as 40% of all light-duty vehicle sales as affordability normalizes buyer age and balances gender distribution, among other equitable effects on the marketplace. Yet, as this demand for EVs inevitably increases, the need for a proportionately equitable dispersion of charging infrastructure becomes all the more urgent.

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According to McKinsey & Company, “As the number of EVs on the road increases, annual demand for electricity to charge them would surge from 11 billion kWh now to 230 billion kWh in 2030… Modeling indicates that nearly 30 million chargers would be needed to deliver so much electricity in that year. While most of these chargers would be installed at residences, 1.2 million would [need to] be public chargers.” More importantly, these public chargers must be targeted to drivers of all ages, genders, races, cultures, income levels and geographic segments. As such, EVCS has identified three primary areas necessary to increasing the democratization of charging infrastructure:

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1) Widespread Charging Access

Chargers need to be installed at a large number of communal properties, whether public, semi-public or private. Moreover, geographic allocation must include varying locales, from outlying rural areas to suburban shopping malls to low-income neighborhoods in populous urban centers. That’s why EVCS has focused on installing DCFCs in diverse and scattered areas across the West Coast as well as varying property types, from gyms and grocery stores to municipal lots and educational institutions to multi-unit dwellings and workplaces.

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2) Affordable and Convenient Pricing Models

Gasoline prices continue to be a major pain point for most ICE vehicle owners. A CNBC study in March of 2022 showed that “even with regional surges in the price of electricity, it’s still quite a bit more expensive to fill your gas tank than it is to charge your EV’s battery.” Jeffries analyst David Kelley calculated total vehicle lifetime savings at about $4,700. And while, yes, charging at home is fairly cheap, EVCS has ensured such savings continue in the public square with low network-wide pay-as-you-go fees and flat monthly subscription rates that are simple to understand and don’t fluctuate based on locale or time of day.

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3) Development of New Technologies

Innovation always drives down costs. In just the last couple years, both private and government-backed investments in the EV space have resulted in numerous innovations that have made the industry more efficient and, as a result, accessible, from cloud-based SaaS networking solutions to faster next-gen battery cells to V2G smart grid technology. EVCS has embraced this trend, with our backend network that creates a seamless and uniform user experience – whether you’re in Fresno, California or Skykomish, Washington – and our investments in faster, more effective, more reliable chargers.

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Ensuring EV adoption is viable everywhere and to everyone is crucial to our ultimate goal of creating widespread environmental benefits, including reduced carbon emissions and improved air quality. Efforts at democratizing infrastructure will go a long way toward this goal.

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Further Reading:

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Installation of the Month (June 2021): Hyatt Place Riverside/Downtown

The ability to travel is something many of us take for granted. Our Interstate Highway System allows us to freely traverse state boundaries – to go wherever we choose whenever we choose – from the snow-capped Colorado Rockies to the soupy Everglade swamplands to the historic lighthouses of coastal New England. However, EV drivers are more acutely aware of their travel limitations because many areas of the country have yet to adopt pro-electric infrastructure policies, often leaving them with few ground-travel options other than ICE vehicles. We knew getting more Americans to embrace the electric revolution would require buy-in from the hospitality industry. As such, much of our focus has gone toward hotels that, by serving as site hosts for charging stations, can help kickstart that ubiquitous access required to convert many EV holdouts.

Wall Street Journal Piece Brings Up Questions… And We Answer

Stephen Wilmot’s recent article in the Wall Street Journal, “Investors Look for an EV Charge,” debates the merits of investing in EV infrastructure, admitting that while chargers likely make for better investments than cars, the sector still holds many potential pitfalls that should be considered before jumping in. While that may be true, many of the examples backing up this assertion cite the business models of the largest EV installers in the country while failing to consider what less visible but faster-growing companies like EVCS are doing to mitigate such risks. Below are a few quotes from the article and our thoughts on them, including how we’re different.

Commentary on EV Industry Profitability Claims

In a recent Driving.ca article titled “EV-Charging Industry is Doing Everything Except Making Money,” author David R. Baker makes a compelling argument that the EV infrastructure sector is a revenue desert, essentially incapable of generating enough cash flow to sustain profitability due to a lack of interest from motorists. “The dilemma boils down to demand,” he states, before adding that “lots of people still driving gasoline-powered cars won’t consider going electric until they see charging stations widely deployed.”

Installation of the Month (May 2021): LADOT Lot 656

The Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) notes on its website that ICE vehicles are one of the city’s top contributors to air pollution, accounting for 19% of all greenhouse gas emissions, before proclaiming, “We can do better… We’re investing in public transit, testing new technology, and adopting mobility innovations for a cleaner environment and brighter future.” At first, it might just sound like flowery rhetoric, but we can personally attest to that commitment. Starting in 2019, LADOT partnered with us to install DCFCs at 57 city-owned lots, with almost 30% of those installations now completed. This alliance has been integral in promoting our goal of zero-emission mobility in the City of Angels by facilitating greater access to infrastructure.

Addressing Pain Points in Creating EV Infrastructure

A recent GovTech.com article titled “How Biden Plans to Build 500 EV Charging Stations” discusses the President’s goals for creating a nationwide network of 500,000 such installations by 2030. While it does a smart job laying out many of the pain points we face in facilitating EV adoption, the mention of solutions was far less prevalent, and ones that were mentioned seemed speculative or tenuous. However, over the last three years, EVCS has already taken the lead in addressing many of these challenge areas, allowing us to dominate the installation market across the West Coast.