Who will pay for the electric 'gas' stations?
Editors' note: This is a guest column. See Matt Mattila's bio below.
As every major automaker reveals plans to sell electric vehicles, the future appears to be upon us, replete with silent, emissions-free, peppy, electric vehicles.
Given this impending electric-vehicle revolution, where are all of the electric pumps?
Electric-car charging points like this one, which is fed by solar panels and installed by SolarCity, are being installed in the bank parking lots of California's Rabobank.
(Credit: SolarCity)With electric vehicles, you could probably do away with stopping at fueling stations entirely, as the majority of your fueling, or battery charging, will be done overnight while plugged in at home or during the day while parked at the office. But because it is conceivable that not every trip will be within the battery range of your vehicle, the mere presence of public charging stations for electric vehicles could help alleviate "range anxiety," or the concern that with an electric vehicle, you will be stranded when your battery dies.
Wouldn't it be nice to know that a stop for a Big Mac to fill your belly could also serve as a stop to extend your car's driving range? While some electric cars are already on the road, and people are installing charging stations at home, can the government roll out enough public charging stations in time to support all of these vehicles?
Sure, and if we were the green fairy, we'd sprinkle magical carbon-free dust on President Obama and have him pour billions of dollars into making electric vehicles affordable.
Wait--that's already happening--and it may be enough to get started. But if we want electric vehicles to be successful on a large scale, we can't rely on the government to do it all. We need big-box retailers, office buildings, and fast-food franchises to invest.
And, while it would be great if these companies invested just because they feel strongly about energy security, global warming, or innovative transportation, it also makes good business sense.
With an initial investment of definable costs, owners have a variety of options for earning a significant return:
- Collect fees for battery charging
- Attract more customers
- Recharge your own vehicles
- Enhance your brand
The Rocky Mountain Institute, my employer, has a new guide for investing in charging infrastructure , detailing the full costs of charging stations--not just what the charging station manufacturers will quote, but the installation and running costs, as well. The guide helps potential investors ask the right questions, understand the differences across the technology, and connect to those active in this space.
Each business has a unique scenario, and for those who wish to see their own numbers, RMI has also developed an interactive tool to help business owners accurately assess their business case. This report and tool will help users understand if and how they can make money from a charging station.
Coulomb Technologies is developing networked equipment for charging electric vehicles at the curb. It has inked deals with service stations throughout California to provide the equipment.
(Credit: Kim Smith/General Motors)Does investing in charging infrastructure make sense for your business?
Let's take the example of a McDonald's. The total cost of a station may be about $5,000, and installation may cost about the same. Ten grand is nothing to sneeze at, but the actual cost to the investor is likely to be lower. Uncle Sam will provide a 50 percent tax credit, and many states have an additional incentive on top of that. As a typical McDonald's grosses $2.2 million annually, a one-time investment of $5,000 is less than half of 1 percent of annual revenue.
Let's consider what the station would provide in return. Even though most of the companies RMI interviewed for this guide did not list branding opportunities as the top driver for interest in charging stations, this hypothetical McDonald's owner already would generate great publicity, which has real value.
Paying for an advertisement in a nationally syndicated publication is expensive, and not nearly as powerful as being "caught doing good."
Of RMI's corporate interviewees, a commitment to retaining employees and the potential to attract new customers came up most often as incentives for installing charging stations. In the McDonald's example, think of how quickly these stations would pay for themselves if a few new customers a day decided to go to this McDonald's instead of another fast-food chain because they agree with its practices.
Most of these charging stations will also have intelligence built in that enables fee collection from users to refill their batteries. Depending on the number of electric-vehicle users, this is another potential source of revenue. These individual streams can start to add up to real returns.
Installing a charging station may not make sense for some businesses. However, it may be possible that some companies make a little green by being a little greener.
Matt Mattila is the project manager for the Project Get Ready initiative in the Move (Mobility + Vehicle Efficiency) group at the Rocky Mountain Institute, a nonprofit think tank focused on fostering efficient and restorative use of resources. With a background in management consulting, Mattila specializes in business strategy. 
If you're one of those fools who shows up to work, well I guess the half of your paycheck you get to keep will just take another hit.
Do you understand that these electric vehicles will have auxilliary gas engines to recharge the batteries when needed? Stopping for a charge-up is always optional.
Electric vehicles have no gas engine.
The Chevy Volt has this feature - many electric cars slated for release do not.
A shopping mall then can set up an entire lot dedicated to recharging spaces. the commuter train station can set up lots as charging stations.
then location are endless if you use a parking meter charging station device.
Also, Chicago is ripping out most of the classic meters for a single pay station in the middle of the block.
Of course, any trip where you spend a lot of time with the vehicle parked would be a good time for charging, such as a shopping mall or maybe a non-fast food restaurant.
Also, the faster the vehicles get charged the higher the current, which means the infrastructure would have to be very robust. I would think fast charging (if there is such a thing) a car would take at least as much current as a block heater, maybe more. In Canada (where I am) it's hard to find a residence without the capacity to plug in a block heater, even in apartment buildings. However, other locals with warmer winter weather may have to improve their outdoor current carrying capability before they can plug in an electric car for charging.
If you managed to drive your car until the battery was near empty I would expect (at a guess) it would take anywhere from 4 to 8 hours for a full charge. You wouldn't want to forget to plug your car in if you had to use it to get to work or drive the kids to school the next day.
I notice a few companies are coming out with inductive charging for portable devices such as cellphones. Perhaps the answer might be a large inductive pad under your driveway that could recharge your batteries without plugging the car in. The same technology could be used in parking lots in large stores, restaurants, malls, sports facilities and other places. I'm not sure how they would charge you for the use though, RFID maybe?
1) the voltage (110, 240, 480)
2) the connector (480 volts and above have special connectors)
3) the battery technology
The estimated time of 4-8 hours charge time is the worse case scenario. 5 minute full charge is the best case scenario (still in development at MIT).
There are several charge stations already for sale that offer 10 minute charge times (Epyon) for a full charge. This is technology that is available today but have a higher installation cost and can produce a high load on the grid. Nissan, Honda and Toyota have a 20 minute charge time for 80% capacity which will be available for their next generation electric vehicles.
A lot of vehicle manufacturers are providing misinformation to the public about electric vehicle charge times. Remember that the 4-8 hours often quoted by car manufacturers regarding electric vehicles is the worse case scenario (110v - 240v standard electric outlets).
8 hours is also quoted by several startups who want to get funding for hydrogen fuel cells which is already dead technology due to logistical and storage problems. They don't mention that electric vehicles CAN be and are designed to be fully charge in 10 to 30 minutes.
Electric vehicles are practical. After driving a few hours, it is recommended that you have at least a half hour break. With the Tesla roadsters driving range at 300 miles, you can drive a few hours without a break on a full charge. By the time you have a burger and use the bathroom, in half an hour your car will be fully charged. There are a few things that need to happen:
1) An appropriate charging station needs to be available
2) you need to have an electric vehicle fitted with the correct rapid charge connector (most electric vehicles already have this or can be purchased as an option)
3) the grid must be able to support the load
I've actually looked into this folks and read a lot about the different technologies that are currently for sale. It's all heppenning so don't waste your money on outdated hybrid technology. Practical electric vehicle technologies will be rolled out sooner than you think, led by Japan and companies like Tesla Motors.
Sure, some of the electricity will come from renewable resources. But if electric vehicles pick up in popularity, everyone will be charging their vehicles. That means more draw on the electrical grid. We don't have enough renewable energy sources coming online to account for that. We do have lots of coal in the US, which can be brought online during peak loads. Unless we can convince people to charge their cars at non-peak times, then this isn't really going to save the environment much.
People will need to charge their cars at home in the middle of the night, not at businesses during the day.
I have a real simple solution. Energy consumers need to bear the cost of the energy they consume, the infrastructure needed to deliver that energy, and the pollution it produces. Don't subsidize any energy sources, renewable or carbon-based. Instead, charge a carbon tax. Renewable energy will be tax free since it doesn't pollute. Proceeds from the carbon tax should be used to remove carbon from the environment. If it costs $100 billion a year to mitigate all the gasoline consumed in the US, charge the equivalent of $100 billion in gas taxes.
Real simple, no big government bureacracy needed.
Now, if we could only fix the problem that other countries are stealing our manufacturing jobs since they have looser envirnomental laws than the US does.
Also, since most coal plants are not located inside cities (at least I hope they're not) it should allow the cities to clean up their air, which is another plus.
Of course, the subsidies would only last for a predefined period of time before the full cost will be born by the consumer. They would just get the ball rolling.
As for manufacturing (you're right again), because of greed and extremest capitalists, nothing will ever be done about it. However companies can make more money is what they will choose to do. If labour costs are lower in China or India then that's where the jobs will go.
We should refuse to allow any products to be imported from any country that has a lower standard of living than our western countries do. If they want to import their cheap goods then we would slap a tariff on them to increase the cost to approximately what it costs to produce the same goods here. However, as I mentioned, this will never happen. So long as the all mighty dollar reigns supreme here over everything else including the health and well being of our citizens, we will never see changes like this happen.
Nevermind that 1/3 of my gas price is taxes already, or that I have 10 (yes ten) separate government fees and taxes that make $11 of electricity use cost me $26, the seek for more command & control marches on.
More power to the Anointed Ones as they make life as difficult and expensive as possible for anyone who actually works for a living, while giving handouts to those they favor ("green" campaigners who embrace the controls since their products are unaffordable in a free market, and deadbeats whose votes they'll buy with subsidies).
As someone who doesn't want to be limited by an electric vehicle, or want to buy a new one any time soon, I don't want to be paying for someone else's fuel. If there were a market for electric charging stations, entrepreneurs would definitely build them.
For that market to develop, first-adopters would have to make do with the problems, limits, and inconveniences that beset all first adopters- no developed support infrastructure. If driving electric autos to replace petrol fueled ones is a marketable notion, then things will get better as it catches on and the market expands.
The other development solution is for an extremely well-financed entity to take on the risk of developing the needed support network to create a new product ecosystem out of thing air- probably in partnership with the product manufacturer. The onslaught of the iPhone with AT&T is a good example of this.
Selling something new always means taking on the risk that it may not beat out the existing product. That's a risk that can range from really paying off to breaking even to an epic fail. By demanding people who have no interest in the product share that risk is completely ludicrous.
So go ahead and build your charging station at McD's, and when the burgers at Hardees are still at the same price as opposed to your higher price, people will either buy into the convenience of charging, if they happen to need the service, or move the alternative that better suits their needs. In times like these, I'm banking on the latter.
The hardest part, in my opinion, would be getting people to respect the "electric cars only" parking in those slots with the chargers...the rest seems pretty easy with today's technology.
Your logic only works if one assumes that the stations would have zero impact on the store's other operations. If, for example, McDonald's didn't sell a single Big Mac extra as a result of their station, then you'd be correct that tey would have to raise prices to compensate for the loss.
Having a station *might* impact sales, however, by affecting one's position in the competitive landscape. The electric station would be a "value-add" service, designed to make their "core product" more appealing when compared to competitors.
Early on, having a station would be a competitive advantage. If I'm choosing between McDonald's and Burger King, and McDonald's has a station while Burger King does not, then McDonald's has an advantage in getting my business.
Later, not having a station would be considered a competitive disadvantage. Wendy's would be compelled to add a station after losing business to McDonald's and Burger King.
Oddly enough... one of my local grocery stores already gives away fuel as an incentive. Pick 'n Save's Fuelperks program offers a discount on gas at local BP stations. So fueling my car to get me to shop isn't so far-fetched a notion!
-J
I agree that Shopping Malls, Train Parking Stations, Office parking spaces, Park and Ride, Rest Areas and any other places where you normally park for a long period of time should have priority. Fast food areas may not be ideal, at least not for a while. Grocery stores are not also ideal because you normally buy grocery items less than 5 miles from your residence.
To even out the surge in demand, some battery storage buffer should be installed in the vicinity of the charging areas to accommodate the big demands of quick charging. The energy storage are always trickle charged.
Solar panels are being installed in some big parking spaces to provide such energy. Rest areas along the freeways which are usually situated in the middle of vacant lands are ideal places too. Solar panel arrays can be situated next to these rest areas and the energy either supplied to the grid or have some big storage buffer (batteries) to supply all the quick charging energy day and night. This way, the impact on the grid is minimal, the power is distributed. Oregon has a project like this where they are testing the installation of solar PV around the rest areas or strategic places along the major freeways (I-5).
Park it in my garage, it charges, park it at work it charges. Hell, power a cable down the street and drive within range of it, and forget the batteries all together.