Charging an electric car should be as convenient as gas to run

Charging an electric vehicle can cause neck pain, which can be doubly troubled by the fact that the small battery icon on the dashboard is slowly losing its bandwidth. In order to truly hook up, charging an electric car should be as convenient as refueling a gasoline car.

The The Biden Administration promised to build 500,000 chargers, which are estimated to cost about $ 5 billion. According to some early estimates, the actual cost is about $ 40 billion, this figure may be incorrect. However, the priority is to install stations near highways for convenience, and you will additionally need to have at least four quick chargers each, with all outlets being unbranded.

According to NPRthe government’s plan to build a mass charging station is a good start, but it is still going away a place for improvement.

The proliferation of chargers will make owning an electric car less stressful and offer the convenience of a gas vehicle with no emissions to the exhaust pipe. There are currently more than 150,000 gas stations nationwide in the U.S., more than three times the number of chargers for electric vehicles.

Read more: Why Biden’s $ 7.5 billion charging plan may not convince you to switch

While it may seem that chargers for electric vehicles are catching up with gas stations, in fact chargers for EVs will have to far outperform gas stations if there is hope to be convenient, due to the time required to charge vehicles.

46,000 chargers are currently strewn in the United States, but not many are fast level 3 chargers that can charge vehicles in just 15-45 minutes. Instead, most chargers are level 2, which is more like what people will use for charge EV in their house and it takes about 5 hours to charge the batteries.

Automakers such as Tesla have already stepped up their own network of charging stations, of which there are now more than 900 across the United States. The disadvantage is that Tesla chargers are patented and cannot be used on electric cars of other brands.

According to Britty Gross of energy consulting firm RMI, this has left a gap for private companies such as Electrify America sweep and fill.

“It can be reassuring to say, ‘Hey, private investment, pick up now where the federal government has stepped aside, and now it’s time for the free market to take it on a scale,'” Gross said.