EV CHARGING COMPATIBILITY ON THE ROAD
But what about charging your EV when you are traveling?
Finding an away-from-home charging option isn’t quite as easy as finding a gas station…yet.
Most EVs that are currently on the market (September 2021) use an open standard port to attach like the Combined Charging System (CCS) or less common CHAdeMO connector. The big exception, at the moment, is Tesla.
However, The Big T has just announced that it will be making a switch that allows other automaker electric vehicles to use its Fast Charging stations. This new solution will expand the use of the Tesla Supercharger network of charging stations which will require vehicle owners to obtain a small new piece of hardware. According to Elon Musk, his company will start selling a Tesla-designed adapter which sits between the car and the Supercharger. This port adapter will allow owners of non-Tesla vehicles to use the Supercharging network to charge their vehicle. (Note, this adapter will function along with the Tesla app to indicate which charging bay you parked in).
4 Types of Charger Connectors
- J1772
- CCS
- CHAdeMO
- Tesla
According to a July 31, 2021 Popular Science article by Rob Stumpf, “As more automakers move towards electrification, the need for additional chargers is predicted to grow at an astronomical rate. In fact, President Joseph Biden recently called for providers to reach a milestone of a half-million chargers installed by 2030 and set out to establish an infrastructure funding bill to make the target a reality.”
Although the absolute number of chargers and multi-vehicle charging stations will continue to grow in the coming decade, it is likely that we’ll all feel the occasional crunch of more vehicles looking to be charged than there are chargers available.
Is this a problem…. or an opportunity? It really depends. It’s a problem for EV drivers where the community businesses and local government have not embraced this ‘rEVolution’. It is a fantastic opportunity for businesses and municipalities who invest in electric vehicle charging station technologies which will provide an additional source of revenue while simultaneously helping the community and the environment.
The bottom line is that both the public and private sector are clearly in agreement that electric vehicles are the future of transportation. Automakers are making announcements about eliminating production of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles in the not-too-distant future. New EV models such as the Ford F-150 Lightning are being introduced by legacy companies with newcomers to the industry such as Lucid, Rivian, and Lordstown now in the transportation game. And then of course there’s the king of the EV market, Tesla. With all the electric vehicles coming to market and pricing competitive with ICE vehicles, the demand for EV Charging will exponentially grow. Are you ready?
