1 00:00:00,070 --> 00:00:04,610 I just watched the most recent video by Jason of Engineering Explained about electric vehicles 2 00:00:04,610 --> 00:00:06,360 and the future of transportation. 3 00:00:06,360 --> 00:00:11,110 Now, I myself strongly believe that EVs are the future of transportation, and Jason’s 4 00:00:11,110 --> 00:00:13,269 video was great and very thorough. 5 00:00:13,269 --> 00:00:17,380 But when discussing their use Jason made an oversight that so many people make that I 6 00:00:17,380 --> 00:00:19,050 feel we need to discuss it now. 7 00:00:19,050 --> 00:00:23,599 In the video, Jason brought up that if you live in an urban setting, with shorter travel 8 00:00:23,599 --> 00:00:28,189 distances and where the charging infrastructure is there, then an EV makes sense, but if you 9 00:00:28,189 --> 00:00:31,980 live in a rural setting, where the travel distances are longer and the infrastructure 10 00:00:31,980 --> 00:00:36,079 isn’t necessarily there, then they don’t make as much sense. 11 00:00:36,079 --> 00:00:40,590 Now I take issue with the rural point because my mom and dad, who live in a decidedly rural 12 00:00:40,590 --> 00:00:47,059 setting are living happily with their Bolt EV, but the more broad issue is one of infrastructure. 13 00:00:47,059 --> 00:00:50,990 Saying that there’s more infrastructure in the city than in rural areas is, while 14 00:00:50,990 --> 00:00:53,920 technically true, kind of irrelevant. 15 00:00:53,920 --> 00:00:54,920 Why? 16 00:00:54,920 --> 00:00:59,789 Well, because most people with an EV build their own charging infrastructure! 17 00:00:59,789 --> 00:01:04,949 And they can do so because 99% of that infrastructure is already in place. 18 00:01:04,949 --> 00:01:08,520 The generation stations are electric vehicle infrastructure. 19 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:10,310 These power lines are infrastructure. 20 00:01:10,310 --> 00:01:11,820 This substation is infrastructure. 21 00:01:11,820 --> 00:01:13,520 This transformer is infrastructure. 22 00:01:13,520 --> 00:01:15,420 These meters are infrastructure. 23 00:01:15,420 --> 00:01:18,240 This distribution panel is infrastructure. 24 00:01:18,240 --> 00:01:23,299 All that’s missing to turn all of this into an electric car charging station is an EVSE, 25 00:01:23,299 --> 00:01:26,950 a new circuit breaker, and a run of wire to wherever your car is. 26 00:01:26,950 --> 00:01:32,560 I have seen time and time again from the people who doubt the feasibility of electric vehicles 27 00:01:32,560 --> 00:01:36,979 that the cost of creating charging infrastructure for them will be enormous. 28 00:01:36,979 --> 00:01:42,020 They see the thousands of fueling stations for petroleum cars and imagine that an EV 29 00:01:42,020 --> 00:01:44,590 will have to be refueled in a similar way. 30 00:01:44,590 --> 00:01:49,930 In their head, they see a need to convert all of these fueling stations into charging 31 00:01:49,930 --> 00:01:52,170 stations, but that simply isn’t true. 32 00:01:52,170 --> 00:01:58,270 An EV can charge overnight every day when you have an EVSE installed where you live. 33 00:01:58,270 --> 00:02:03,070 Every morning you wake up to a fully charged vehicle, ready to take on your daily needs. 34 00:02:03,070 --> 00:02:08,080 A charging station like this Clipper Creek HCS-40 will add about 200 miles of range to 35 00:02:08,080 --> 00:02:11,210 a typical EV with 8 hours of charging. 36 00:02:11,210 --> 00:02:16,830 So even if you drive 200 miles every day, which would be putting more than 70,000 miles 37 00:02:16,830 --> 00:02:22,360 on your car annually, every morning your home charging station will have topped off your car. 38 00:02:22,360 --> 00:02:26,670 And if you have 200 amp service from your utility, then the charging station is only 39 00:02:26,670 --> 00:02:29,860 16% of your home’s electrical capacity. 40 00:02:29,860 --> 00:02:34,470 Because you already have electrical service from your utility, the cost of adding an EVSE 41 00:02:34,470 --> 00:02:35,940 can be very low. 42 00:02:35,940 --> 00:02:40,720 The chargers themselves are typically around $400, and if your circuit breaker panel is 43 00:02:40,720 --> 00:02:46,030 near your garage or parking location, you may very well spend less than $500 having 44 00:02:46,030 --> 00:02:48,270 an electrician install it for you. 45 00:02:48,270 --> 00:02:52,630 So essentially, depending on your situation, you can build a fueling station at home for 46 00:02:52,630 --> 00:02:54,980 less than $1,000 all in. 47 00:02:54,980 --> 00:02:58,100 And sometimes there are tax incentives for this process. 48 00:02:58,100 --> 00:02:59,970 Of course, there are caveats. 49 00:02:59,970 --> 00:03:04,030 One of the most difficult things to figure out is how to add charging stations to homes 50 00:03:04,030 --> 00:03:08,770 such as apartment buildings, or urban areas with on-street parking only. 51 00:03:08,770 --> 00:03:13,290 But these are tiny investments compared to building a fueling station. 52 00:03:13,290 --> 00:03:17,640 I myself live in a multi-family home - a condo building with more than 50 units. 53 00:03:17,640 --> 00:03:21,310 I took the initiative to jump through the hoops, and now there’s a charging station 54 00:03:21,310 --> 00:03:22,580 in my spot. 55 00:03:22,580 --> 00:03:25,630 I made a whole video on this experience if you’re interested. 56 00:03:25,630 --> 00:03:30,330 Thanks to this charging station and the station where my parents live, their Bolt EV has travelled 57 00:03:30,330 --> 00:03:37,370 nearly 10,000 miles now and has only ever been charged with this EVSE, or that EVSE. 58 00:03:37,370 --> 00:03:42,270 It has never visited a public charging station because I have built my own infrastructure, 59 00:03:42,270 --> 00:03:43,920 and so have my parents. 60 00:03:43,920 --> 00:03:48,040 This may sound harsh, but what will likely happen is that gas stations as we know them 61 00:03:48,040 --> 00:03:50,770 today will largely disappear. 62 00:03:50,770 --> 00:03:55,171 If level 2 charging equipment is available where you live, you simply will never visit 63 00:03:55,171 --> 00:03:56,171 a fueling station. 64 00:03:56,171 --> 00:03:59,620 It’s just something you don’t have to do anymore. 65 00:03:59,620 --> 00:04:04,380 There is no need to replicate the fueling experience of a gasoline or diesel powered 66 00:04:04,380 --> 00:04:06,830 car for electric vehicles. 67 00:04:06,830 --> 00:04:11,040 This is very hard to contextualize, and I don’t blame anyone who can’t right now, 68 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:14,110 but with an EV you simply plug it in and walk away. 69 00:04:14,110 --> 00:04:19,420 It never goes to a gas station because you have your own gas station in your parking spot. 70 00:04:19,420 --> 00:04:25,060 I fear that as DC fast charging become feasible, people might imagine these charging stations 71 00:04:25,060 --> 00:04:28,070 as a fueling station replacement. 72 00:04:28,070 --> 00:04:31,790 While this might be a workable solution to the barriers to a home charging station that 73 00:04:31,790 --> 00:04:37,150 some people face, I think it makes far more sense to eliminate those barriers than to 74 00:04:37,150 --> 00:04:39,850 rely on public fast charging. 75 00:04:39,850 --> 00:04:43,810 If you only have on-street parking, then perhaps the utility and local government should get 76 00:04:43,810 --> 00:04:48,300 involved to help people like yourself install an EVSE near the road. 77 00:04:48,300 --> 00:04:52,240 For apartment buildings, management might consider adding a bank of chargers and allow 78 00:04:52,240 --> 00:04:54,390 access to them for a fee. 79 00:04:54,390 --> 00:04:59,090 Or better yet, workplaces can start to install level 2 chargers for their associates. 80 00:04:59,090 --> 00:05:03,740 If charging is limited to those who cannot charge at home, then their 8 hour day at work 81 00:05:03,740 --> 00:05:08,170 would get them the same 200 miles that an overnight charge can for everyone else. 82 00:05:08,170 --> 00:05:12,860 Now I get it, these solutions require new ways of thinking and adjustments to behavior. 83 00:05:12,860 --> 00:05:17,770 If gas stations simply turn into banks of DC fast charging stations, then no real change 84 00:05:17,770 --> 00:05:19,690 in behavior is required. 85 00:05:19,690 --> 00:05:21,560 Just visit the station when needed. 86 00:05:21,560 --> 00:05:25,780 But it will take far less effort to simply add basic level 2 charging stations at home 87 00:05:25,780 --> 00:05:26,910 or at work. 88 00:05:26,910 --> 00:05:33,240 It will cost a small fraction of installing big honking 350 kW DC fast chargers everywhere--particularly 89 00:05:33,240 --> 00:05:37,220 because these stations will almost certainly require the utility to upgrade the service 90 00:05:37,220 --> 00:05:38,970 wherever they’re installed. 91 00:05:38,970 --> 00:05:44,260 Where DC fast chargers will be needed is along interstate corridors to enable long distance travel. 92 00:05:44,260 --> 00:05:47,700 That’s what Tesla Superchargers do, and that’s what the Electrify America initiative 93 00:05:47,710 --> 00:05:49,290 is going to do. 94 00:05:49,290 --> 00:05:53,300 We do need fast charging infrastructure, but it’s a fundamental mistake to think that 95 00:05:53,300 --> 00:05:58,340 this infrastructure needs to replace the fueling infrastructure we use day-to-day. 96 00:05:58,340 --> 00:06:02,970 Home charging or work charging will be what replaces your neighborhood gas station. 97 00:06:02,970 --> 00:06:06,500 DC Fast Charging will replace the truck stops along the highway. 98 00:06:06,500 --> 00:06:10,980 And smart truck stop owners might consider installing DC fast chargers, if their long 99 00:06:10,980 --> 00:06:13,290 term future is in their sights. 100 00:06:13,290 --> 00:06:17,630 To conclude, EV charging infrastructure should not be thought about in the terms of the fueling 101 00:06:17,630 --> 00:06:19,250 infrastructure we use today. 102 00:06:19,250 --> 00:06:22,540 In fact, it cannot be thought in this way. 103 00:06:22,540 --> 00:06:27,200 When you have an EVSE at home, longer range cars like the Bolt EV or Teslas or any number 104 00:06:27,200 --> 00:06:31,520 of future offerings won’t need to rely on public charging at all. 105 00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:36,230 That’s where the infrastructure challenge really is--homeowners with garages face almost 106 00:06:36,230 --> 00:06:38,870 no challenge to installing an EVSE. 107 00:06:38,870 --> 00:06:42,880 But apartment dwellers, renters, and urban homeowners with on-street parking do face 108 00:06:42,880 --> 00:06:44,040 a barrier. 109 00:06:44,040 --> 00:06:48,180 I think it’s a wiser investment to eliminate their barriers and get them their own level 110 00:06:48,180 --> 00:06:53,060 2 charging stations than to build up a DC fast charging infrastructure for their daily needs. 111 00:06:53,060 --> 00:06:57,720 Plus, it’s a lot more convenient to just plug in at home and walk away than to wait 112 00:06:57,730 --> 00:06:59,500 at the DC fast charger. 113 00:06:59,500 --> 00:07:03,160 My fairy-tale solution to this problem is for local utility companies to form their 114 00:07:03,160 --> 00:07:05,480 own EV charging operations. 115 00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:09,520 There might be regulations preventing this, but what I see as a great solution is a system 116 00:07:09,520 --> 00:07:15,360 where the utility can add the electric consumption from any charger to an individual’s electric bill. 117 00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:19,620 Possibly through an RFID tag on the car and a reader on the charge cord, the charger will 118 00:07:19,630 --> 00:07:23,600 know what car it’s plugged into, and can directly bill the owner for their electricity 119 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:26,590 use, regardless of where they plugged in. 120 00:07:26,590 --> 00:07:30,250 I think this would be a great solution for multi-residential buildings with unassigned 121 00:07:30,250 --> 00:07:32,840 parking, or public on-street charging. 122 00:07:32,840 --> 00:07:37,230 To finance the cost of the installation, the utility could perhaps charge $5 per connection 123 00:07:37,230 --> 00:07:42,780 until the unit’s upfront cost has been recouped, after which point the energy is sold at standard rates. 124 00:07:42,780 --> 00:07:48,000 In any case, what needs to be understood is that an EV is charged opportunistically, pretty 125 00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:50,020 much whenever it’s parked. 126 00:07:50,020 --> 00:07:53,480 Going to a place to refuel is just not how they work. 127 00:07:53,480 --> 00:07:58,090 Though it can be hard to keep this in mind, it’s absolutely essential to understand 128 00:07:58,090 --> 00:08:00,430 the type of infrastructure we need. 129 00:08:00,430 --> 00:08:05,100 When you understand that, you’ll start to get the sense that this isn’t as hard as it seems. 130 00:08:05,500 --> 00:08:06,680 Thanks for watching.