THERE ARE ONLY 15,000 EV'S TODAY, EV CHARGING STATIONS LAG BEHIND, BUT PROJECTED TO HIT 13,000 BY END OF 2012

When McDonald's franchisee Tom Wolf built his latest restaurant in Huntington, W. Va., late last year, he installed two chargers for all-electric cars so customers could juice their batteries while eating. So far, the charging station has been used a few times.

Mr. Wolf says,  

"It's for the future."  

Wolf spent $6,385 on chargers that are about the size and shape of a parking meter.

He doesn't know anyone in Huntington who owns a plug-in car but expects that will change once electric vehicles like the Chevrolet Volt and the Nissan Leaf become more widely available.

Click To View Interactive Map

Across the U.S., charging equipment is proliferating even though it's unclear whether plug-in cars will prove popular. Green dots indicate where such stations exist today, and red dots indicate where stations are expected to open in the next year or two. Click on the dots to learn more.

Across the U.S., such equipment is proliferating even though it is unclear whether plug-in cars will prove popular.  Walgreen Co. has chargers outside four Texas stores and plans to add more there and in San Francisco, Orlando, Fla., and Washington, D.C. Cracker Barrell Old Country Store Inc. expects to have chargers outside some Tennessee restaurants within months. Murphy Oil USA, a gas-station operator, is testing one in Chattanooga, Tenn., to gauge demand.

Fewer than 15,000 all-electric cars are on U.S. roads, says Plug In America, a group promoting the technology. The Obama administration hopes one million such cars will be zipping around in 2015, reducing oil dependence, although others expect it will take longer to reach that level.

Why invest in chargers now? Menno Enters, Walgreen's director of energy and sustainability says.

"We wanted to be the first mover."  

He says people are likely to shop while they recharge.

 

Michael Farkas, CEO of Miami-based Car Charging Group Inc., which is assembling a nationwide network of chargers in such places as parking garages and retail-store lots, aims to lock in prime locations before others:

"The business that we're in today is a land grab."

A growing number of companies supply chargers, including: 

• Eaton Corp. 
• General Electric  Co. 
• Siemens AG 
• Schneider Electric SA. 

And there are about 1,400 publicly accessible chargers scattered around the country. Pike Research, a consulting firm in Boulder, Colo., projects 13,000 stations by the end of 2012. By contrast, there are about 160,000 gas stations in the U.S.

Charging equipment is popping up largely because of subsidies.  As part of a $5 billion federal program to subsidize development of electric vehicles and battery technology, the U.S. Energy Department over the past two years provided about $130 million for two pilot projects that help pay for chargers at homes, offices and public locations

A 480-volt "fast" charger, capable of recharging a vehicle in 30 minutes or less, typically costs $40,000, plus installation. The more common commercial 240-volt chargers, like Mr. Wolf's, can cost $2,000 to $3,000 and take almost eight hours to fully charge a Nissan Leaf, though they offer a meaningful boost in shorter periods.

Home chargers can cost $700 to $1,000, plus at least that much for installation. Those costs will fall as production rises, says John Gartner, an analyst at Pike Research.

Some businesses, such as Mr. Wolf's restaurant, initially are providing charges free to test demand. Others impose fees. Car Charging Group for now charges $3 per hour. (Mr. Wolf estimates his giveaway charges cost him about $1.50 an hour.)

 

Drivers are likely to do most of their charging at home or at work. But people considering plug-in cars want to be reassured they have alternatives.

Jonathan Read, chief executive of ECOtality Inc., a maker of charging equipment, recently suffered "range anxiety" while running errands in Phoenix in his new Leaf. The car warned him he had six miles of charge left; he was 12 miles from home.

To reduce battery use, he switched off the air conditioning, despite 115-degree heat, and made it home, concluding the car could go a bit farther than it promised. Still, he would have stopped at any business along the way that offered charging services.

Buyers of plug-in cars qualify for government subsidies of up to $7,500, depending on battery size. That reduces the Leaf's retail cost to about $27,200, or about double that of similarly sized Nissan Versa compact with a four-cylinder gas engine.

Shortages have curtailed electric-car sales this year. But supply should increase markedly over the next two years as about 20 models from Ford Motor  Co., Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co., BMW AG and Tesla Motors Inc. and others hit the market.

 

Opinions vary on demand. J.D. Power & Associates expects all-electric vehicles will account for less than 1% of U.S. auto sales in 2018, or about 102,000 cars and light trucks. Including hybrids and plug-in hybrids the market share is forecast at 8%.

Mike VanNieuwkuyk, executive director of global vehicle research at J.D. Power says.

"The premiums associated with these products are still more than what the consumer is willing to bear." 

Nissan Motor Co., more bullish on the technology than other big car makers, expects pure-electric-vehicle sales will make up 10% of global vehicle sales by 2020.

COMMENTARY:  In a blog post dated March 3, 2011, I reported that Pike Research had forecasted total plug-in vehicles of 358,000 by 2017.  

This is a far cry from the 1 million plug-ins hoped for by the Obama administration.    Pike also forecasts that only about 1.575 million charging stations will be installed worldwide by 2015.

From the look of things, the demand for plug-ins is lagging well behind Pike's original forecast of 40,000 plug-ins for the year 2011.  Obviously, uncertainty in the economy has a lot to do with this.

Courtesy of an article dated October 17, 2011 appearing in The Wall Street Journal

 

Comments

[Tommy]

James,

Thank you for responding to my inquiry about safety issues surrounding electric vehicle charging stations. I did visit your website, and can see that the service you provide is very important for the safety of electric vehicle owners. Your patented power cutoff safety device is definitely needed to insure that the power is automatically shutoff in the even of a collision with a EVCS. Hope you are doing well, and thank you for your response. Tommy

[James M]

Tommy,
Sorry for the delay I have been out of town. We have discovered that if a charging station is struck or ran over or vandalized there is a strong possibility of electrocution. The problem is not the charging station but the power feed to the station and if the feed does not arc then you will have 240v to 480v of live power. Our patented safety device will automatically shut the power off at the source once it detects a collision or hard impact. The biggest problem is our First Responders in each city are not getting the training and it is not a priority like it should be. We have discovered that Fire Chiefs across the Country are concerned for the safety of each responder.
I saw a troubling photo on this page of the stations mounted on the wall, look how far back they are from the vehicle once it is parked. That is a accident waiting to happen and I am at awe that it was allowed.
Tommy, Please feel free to visit our website by googling Greenstar Concepts LLC Louisville Ky. We take great pride in Safety and taking preventive measure for EVSE products.
Thank You,
James

[PCB]

nice and such a superb idea to save fuel and pollution from world. I like this electric charging station.

[Tommy]

James,

Thanks for the valuable information about the dangers of EV charging stations. Could you elaborate further about the specifics of those dangers for the benefit of the other blog readers. Thank you.

Tommy

[James M]

All the charging stations are fine and dandy, people are forgetting the inherent dangers associated with these stations. I am a EVSE Dealer Contractor and we did not get one of these huge Federal Grants. We discovered the inherent dangers and for the past year we have been working aggressively to inform as many as possible, including the Manufacturers. Our discovery has postponed our sales and we have been on a Nationwide Campaign to train our First Responders on the dangers and the many scenerios that come along with it. I have read 1.5 million stations in by 2015 and I have seen these stations installed with no precautions like bollards, curbs, etc. It is just a matter of time before someone gets hurt or killed and the finger pointing will begin. My Company has even developed a safety device that works with Charging Stations and it has been tested and it will save lives .....We have been hung up on , ignored, yelled at.....nobody wants to believe there are Dangers. I challenge people to call your local Fire Department and ask them, what would the protocol be for Car vs. Charging Station??? I DONT KNOW .....is what we here across the Country.
My business partner and I are doing this out of our own pockets and yeah it hurts because we have shallow pockets.
Thanks for letting post on your board...

[classic restoration]

The market seems to perk up. Especially on the auto side.