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California officials are assuming that there will be millions of EVs on California’s roads in the 2030s, so the state needs to get on the ball when it comes to building chargers. However, Calmatters reports that California lofty EV charging goals don’t seem to have a basis in reality.
A million public chargers are needed in California by the end of 2030, according to the state’s projections — almost 10 times more than the number available to drivers in December. To meet that target, 129,000 new stations — more than seven times the current pace — must be built every year for the next seven years. Then the pace would have to accelerate again to reach a target of 2.1 million chargers in 2035.
A robust network of public chargers — akin to the state’s more than 8,000 gas stations — is essential to ensure that drivers will have the confidence to purchase electric vehicles over the next several years.
Experts are now saying that the state’s EV mandate — a core part of Governor Newsom’s climate plan — isn’t feasible. Stanford professor Bruce Cain explained to Calmatters.
“It is very unlikely that we will hit our goals, and to be completely frank, the EV goals are a noble aspiration, but unrealistic. This is a wakeup call that we address potential institutional and policy obstacles more seriously before we commit blindly.”
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There are major barriers to the EV charging expansion in the state. The main barrier is money. Billions will need to come from local, state, federal and private funds to build them. The power grid also needs updating and the red tape that is city and county permitting processes needs to be streamlined.
Private investment is also a big part of this especially as private companies are being looked to to expanded charging access in lower income areas. These companies don’t seem interested in investing in EV chargers however. They’re expensive to install and the return on them is minimal. Charging reliability needs to be improved as well. A recent report by NBC Los Angeles found Southern California EV drivers experience a number of problems charging across Southern California, from long lines and wait times to broken chargers.
Whatever happens in the next six years will be crucial to EVs succeeding in the Golden State. If things don’t pan out, state officials are going to look dumb, as Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel put it to Calmatters. “We’re going to look really silly if we are telling people that they can only buy electric vehicles, and we don’t have the charging infrastructure to support that,” he said. Head over to Calmatters to read the rest of the mess that is expanding EV charging access.
A version of this article originally appeared on Jalopnik.
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