As we move our society towards being more fuel efficient, many push to utilize more electric vehicles. The advocacy for electric vehicles is one of the most common arguments used in discussions about becoming a more climate-friendly society. This is a very important fight that we need to ensure remains in the conversation. However, in order to do that, we have to make one large improvement. We need to create better infrastructure surrounding the public charging stations. Currently, the system of public charging stations for electric vehicles in the United States moves too slowly, setting drivers back hours on end in order to fully charge their vehicle. This comes after a promise was made by charging companies to improve the speed of charging back in 2022, a promise that has not been seen through as of yet.
Many Americans who bought electric cars are now upset that there is no upgrade date in sight.
The chairperson and founder of Fermata Energy, a company dedicated to building “vehicle-to-grid charging systems,” David Slutzky, spoke about how there is a lack of adequate charging stations. To put it simply, he stated that there is a difficulty due to the disconnect between vehicle manufacturers and charging stations. A lot of cars struggle to maintain charge for long or take in the charge quickly. He expressed that “they almost all ratchet down the charge pretty quickly.”
The particular promise that came from public charging development networks was to produce electric vehicle charging stations that would wrack up to speeds of 100 kilowatts, or higher. However, in 2022, we only saw 52 kilowatts at its height. Things have not gotten much better since. Experts have analyzed the issue, and some have provided explanations as to the issue, but not everyone is taking too kindly to the statements.
According to analysts, there is evidence suggesting issues within the vehicles themselves, not just the chargers.
Essentially, vehicles can only charge so quickly. They still have their own internal mechanisms that produce the charge absorption and most vehicles on the market today do not have systems capable of fast charging. Of the nearly 55 different models of electric vehicles on the market today, only around 25 or so can charge at 200 kilowatts or higher. However, even these models have issues as the speed of charge can be altered by a number of other conditions, such as temperatures.
