The Need For A National EV Charging Grid

Read More: https://www.raycap.com/the-future-of-electric-vehicles/

 

The push for more adoption of electric vehicles in the United States comes with a problem, namely the lack of availability of rapid charging stations. The rollout of electric vehicles has been slow in America, with problems in the areas of styling and power hindering sales for many years. While other countries have been quicker to adopt electric vehicles on a mass scale, America clings to the need for luxury and power over conservation. This reliance on fossil fuel technology has made the manufacturers slow to roll out new electric vehicle models, as they fear sales will not be worth the effort that would be put into the development. Car manufacturers will rarely create new trends, and will generally follow the trends after they have already been established. Tesla has been creating those trends over the past few years as it built a brand in America with pride in the ownership of electric vehicles. As a result of their success creating a vehicle that is renewable and powerful and stylish, most car manufacturers now offer an electric model. The problem is that they have not created the infrastructure for owning a Tesla. The main issue with other EV models is that they rely upon a network of charging stations that is lacking and need to be improved upon. Tesla not only created an electric vehicle but also created a nationwide network of charging stations that can deliver a charge in less than 30 minutes. When this is compared to the more than an hour that the standard EV charging station will provide, it becomes apparent why there is still slow adoption of other brands of electric vehicles. A concerted effort must be made to create a better network of fast-charging stations that can quickly deliver a full charge. This will make an EV an attractive purchase for a typical American family. This effort will require governmental intervention in order to speed up the process, making the investment more attractive to existing gas station owners and other businesses interested in placing charging stations on their property. This can be is accomplished through incentives and tax breaks, but the technology still poses issues that will make many potential investors hesitate.

 

A significant amount of investment is required to place a rapid charging EV station on your property. The several hundred thousand dollars of equipment necessary sits in harm’s way once it is installed, essentially facing the risk of damage to both chargers and the vehicles themselves resulting from lightning strikes and power surges. The technology has evolved to deliver the faster charge necessary, but this makes the footprint and risks larger as a result. In addition, lightning can strike anywhere around or on the equipment and do vast amounts of damage. Overvoltage risk is minimized by integrating EV surge protection devices throughout the system to protect the infrastructure and the vehicle batteries from overheating. Surge protection can improve the validity of the investment and potentially take America one step closer to widespread adoption.