In the course of a Wall Street Journal article on the future of electric vehicles, a future, I reckon, that is likely to be included in the ever-growing list of history’s great central planning disasters, two nuggets were too good not to be posted now.
One is concerned about what will happen with the development of charging stations (a topic I have discussed here and here and one I will be revisiting before long).
This claim stood out:
Utility companies and gas stations are at war with each other over who will own and operate EV chargers. Rural states say some charging stations could operate at a loss for a decade or more. New companies that provide charging gear and services are contending with the equipment’s spotty reliability.
A decade or more.
And then there was this:
Around 1% of U.S. drivers own EVs, but wait lists are growing and auto makers including General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. are expecting EV sales to keep rising. To overcome “range anxiety”—the fear that EV drivers will run out of power while traveling long distances—industry experts say the U.S. needs plentiful fast chargers. Fast charging can take 20 minutes to an hour depending on the vehicle.
This is fast?
If so, those waiting to complete a process that, with a traditional car, was over in a few minutes will, unless their spirits have been broken by the energy transition’s other joys, be furious.
Doubtless, charging speeds will improve over the years, but to look on the bright side, in the interim, they may reduce the time that operators of rural charging stations have to go before turning a profit. After all, they will be able to sell so much more to their customers while they wait, and wait, and wait . . .