I’ve owned an EV for almost a year now (23 MME). In that time, I’ve noticed that some EV charging stations are not being maintained and are often broken for long periods of time. This seems like a huge issue, especially if it creates doubt in the national EV infrastructure. As someone who studies environmental politics, I have a potential solution. My idea is simple: any commercial business that gets federal funding to set up an EV charging station has a legal responsibility to maintain it. If a charging station isn’t working for more than a week, the business should be penalized by paying for the cost of the installation (adjusted for inflation). However, businesses that maintain their charging stations and don’t have any downtime longer than a week should be eligible for tax breaks each year. What are your thoughts on this idea?
Good luck finding any agency to enforce that.
Aubrey said:
Good luck finding any agency to enforce that.
I can see local environmental agencies (like where I live in Jacksonville) and publicly owned utilities taking on this responsibility. It probably couldn’t be a federal agency unless it’s a regional EPA office.
@Mica
You might get a city like Jacksonville to enforce this, but the other 1,200 cities might not want to participate. This is a huge ask.
There’s already a 97% uptime requirement in the IRA, but how it’s enforced is still unclear.
Emerson said:
There’s already a 97% uptime requirement in the IRA, but how it’s enforced is still unclear.
97% uptime means almost 11 days of downtime per year.
Emerson said:
There’s already a 97% uptime requirement in the IRA, but how it’s enforced is still unclear.
It’s up to each state because they control the contracts and funding. In my state, ongoing payments to operate the stations depend on meeting the uptime requirement. If the station has too much downtime, the funding gets cut off.
Emerson said:
There’s already a 97% uptime requirement in the IRA, but how it’s enforced is still unclear.
Data reports are submitted quarterly.
The biggest question is whether the market or the government should be responsible for keeping these stations working. Generally, public goods are regulated, and this might be a problem for the government. Why would government regulation be the best option? I would love to hear thoughts on the pros and cons of government vs. market approaches. Also, what is the right timeframe for repairs? EV equipment is complicated, and EV charging companies are focused on survival and long-term growth. Are there any industries with similar complex equipment to compare to?
@Tatum
Thanks for your thoughts. The approach I mentioned is just a temporary fix assuming the non-working stations are tied to federal funding. The idea came from my experience with a charging station at a Dunkin Donuts near me. I was excited to have a charger nearby when I bought my EV, but that station has been ‘under repair’ for a year and is completely useless now.
@Mica
Is this a Level 2 charger? There are a lot of dead ones out there. Businesses installed them years ago, but then things like 3G going out of service made them outdated. Some businesses decided it was cheaper to just leave them broken. If you add penalties for this, they might just remove the chargers entirely.
@Mica
The problem is definitely real. But I wonder if the incoming administration will push against EVs. It’s a tough situation, and some companies like Tesla have a strong lead and could influence policies that hurt their competitors. Hopefully, market forces or future elections will make a difference.
@Mica
There’s nothing more permanent than a temporary government program. I just don’t think this is a good approach. EVs are too immature for these kinds of policies. What if the charging station is in a bad location and isn’t making money? Or if the demand for EVs at that location never grows? Or if the station can’t find the parts or staff to fix it? This just leads to more rules and exceptions. If the station is profitable, it will be fixed. I don’t think another government structure will help the EV industry in the long run. EVs need to survive without government subsidies or they’ll eventually fail.
@Jody
It’s in a very high-traffic area, and my city just got a $2.8 million grant to add 100 new charging stations. My idea was rough, but the point is that the closest EV charger to my home has been broken since I bought my car. To me, that’s a clear market failure.
@Mica
So, because one charging station at a Dunkin Donuts is down, you want to bring in big government? That’s why we can’t have nice things. Did you even buy anything from Dunkin when you used the charger?
@Gale
This is a widespread issue. Some charging stations are never fixed, and it’s wasting a public resource. And yes, I buy food from Dunkin every time I use the charger there.
A one-star Google review could be effective if enough people do it. I had a frustrating experience at a Walmart in rural Virginia. I had to call Electrify America to reboot their software while a line of cars waited, and it failed again. Two days earlier, other machines at the same location didn’t work either. I never even made it inside the Walmart. I think a gas station model works best, where there’s a business managing the service and also making money selling snacks.
@Mai
Bad reviews on apps like PlugShare can really help keep other EVs away. There’s one I sometimes use that has a rating of 3.6 out of 10. It worked fine for me every time, but after I used it last time, the rating went up to 4.8, which just means I’ll have to wait longer next time.