In 2021, there were about 108,000 public charging ports in the US. That’s nearly one port for every gas station in the US, of which there is an estimated 111,000 to 150,000 – a whole lot more EV charging ports are needed.
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There are more than 2 million EVs currently registered in the US. The ideal ratio of EVs to charging stations is 40 Level 2 charging ports and 3.4 DC fast chargers (DCFC) per 1,000 EVs, according to a report from the US Department of Energy. (A DCFC charger usually has three ports.) Currently, there are 41 Level 2 charging ports and 5.7 DCFC charging ports per 1,000 EVs, respectively, or about 21 EVs for every charging port.
On the other hand, there are 2,514 gas cars per gas station, but the ratio works, as internal combustion engine cars currently have a wider range than EVs.
But the range of electric cars is increasing quickly. As car insurance comparison website Jerry points out, for example, “newer EV models like the Tesla Model S can go as high as 405 miles on a full battery, and earlier this year, Mercedes unveiled an all-electric Vision EQXX concept car at the Consumer Electronics Show that gets a 648-mile range per charge.” Lucid’s Air does over 500 miles on a single charge.
According to new research from Jerry, with a projected 35 million EVs on roads by 2030, the US will need to install around 478 charging ports every day for the next eight years to build the necessary infrastructure to support them. 90+% of EV owners charge at home, but more public charging points are still needed for city and apartment/condo dwellers as well as long trips that go beyond the range of a car’s battery.
Lakshmi Iyengar, data scientist at Jerry, explained to Electrek why they compared charging ports to gas stations rather than pumps:
Considering the ratio of EVs to ICE vehicles on the road, we believe the port number is a better comparison. Further, the majority of EV owners have access to home charging, while ICE vehicle owners cannot fuel at home.
In addition to the federal push for EV chargers – the Biden Infrastructure Law targets 500,000 stations by 2030 – there is also a push on the corporate side for an increase in charging stations. So EV charging ports will surpass the number of gas stations, which has been steadily declining for the last 20 years.
For example, EOS Linx, which provides solar-supported stations with EV chargers, today announced a collaboration with Choice Hotels International – one of the largest hotel chains in the world that has more than 6,000 US franchised hotels such as EconoLodge and Quality Inn – to install EOS Charge Stations at select properties. The first set of EOS Charge Stations will be installed at select hotels in Atlanta, Chattanooga, and Nashville during the first quarter of this year. EOS Linx provides Level 2 chargers and fast chargers with varying capabilities and uses the universal J1772 charging standard system.
Further, convenience store chain 7-Eleven has also promised to install 500 DCFC charging ports by the end of 2022. It currently only has 22 charging stations at 14 stores in four states.
Photo: EVGo
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Author: Michelle Lewis
Source: Electrek
