The Ideal EV Charging Station Doesn’t Look Like You Think

Many companies would like to become the 21st century’s replacement for the “gas station” by making the best EV charging stations. Several station plans, ranging from Tesla Superchargers to massive Buc-ee’s “destination” stations are vying to be the place you charge. The problem is, EV charging is almost entirely different from the gasoline “fill-up,” and the needs of EV drivers look very different.

One recent candidate promoted as an ideal station is the new Rove charging depot in Santa Ana, California, which combines a Tesla Supercharger and 12 old-school CCS chargers with a convenience store, car wash, lounge, Wi-Fi, staff and solar with batteries. Not officially part of the station, but even more important, are a small number of nearby restaurants. Not quite a Buc-ee’s but more than most charging stations which are much simpler, typically a small bank of chargers, often located next to a mall or strip mall with shopping and restaurants.

This station seems nice, though its price of 58 cents/kWh for non-Tesla which is definitely on the high end (even with California’s obscenely high electricity prices, and particularly with the solar and battery which should be lowering that cost quite a bit.) That’s about 15 cents/mile for a Tesla model 3, more for the model Y or most other cars, and that cost exceeds the cost of gasoline for any car getting >24 mpg, and is double the cost for a 50mpg Prius. While the convenience store and car wash presumably pay their own freight, the lounge and other included amenities are being paid for by drivers through this higher price.

The price for the Tesla stations, set by Tesla, is 40 cents mid-day, and as low as 28 cents/kWh at night. (That’s better than many Californians get at home, though much higher than rooftop solar panels.) Many public charging stations, frustrated with how hard it is to make charging a business, are billing more than the cost of gasoline, which is not at all what EV drivers want or expect.

They fall into question because the purpose of a lounge is to wait, and one should never, ever wait while charging an EV. In my >50,000 miles of EV driving, I have almost never done any waiting while charging. I seek an experience better than gasoline, where the pumper must wait 3-4 minutes while filling up, and I get it. Many drivers don’t yet grasp the ability to have zero-wait charging, and so, imagining that waiting is part of the process, they would enjoy a lounge, but I don’t want it and don’t want to pay for it.

Zero-wait and types of customers

Zero-wait charging comes from application of the philosophy “charge where you park, don’t park to charge.” All cars, except those on hard-slog road trips, are parked >20 hours per day, and so they can charge then, without their owner ever waiting, if there is charging in the right places. This will be everybody’s world in the future, but we’re not quite there. Today we see 3 types of cars stopping for a charge at stations like this:

1. People on long road trips doing their mid-day charge.
2. Locals who can’t yet charge at home or work, who must “fill up.”
3. Locals on rare days of heavy use who need a little extra.

Type 2 shouldn’t exist, and most of our charging infrastructure efforts should focus on using laws and subsidies to fix that problem. #3 should be rare. An urban station should have fewer “push through” drivers, rural stations will have many more of them. But even those drivers usually stop to sleep, see sights, eat, use the bathroom and shop. Bathroom breaks can’t do more than about 25kWh, so lunch is the obvious place for charging, along with attractions and some shops. For people in class 2, the regular grocery store (not a convenience store) where you spend 30 minutes a few times a week, is the clear location.

Features at the ideal station

1. Reliability (and enough stalls to fill up only rarely.)
2. Ability to see availability and future load estimates
3. Price (maybe)
4. High ease of use (plug and play) and fail operational
5. Bathrooms
6. Near everyday activities (meals, grocery shopping)
7. Place to eat take-out if not lots of good dining nearby
8. Automatic meal coordination
9. Reservations and/or virtual queue
10. Extra high speed charging (>150kW)
11. Multiple cords, and rental adapters
12. Fast wifi
13. Shopping (mall.)
14. Gas station amenities
15. Lounge

The #1 feature for a station is reliability. Doesn’t matter how good the station is if you can’t count on it. But after that, having the charging at where you already wanted to stop is a clear #2. (That’s why hotels are such important locations for slower, level 2 charging to be done overnight while you sleep.) You also want remote visibility into how busy the station is and how many stalls are working, so you don’t drive and get disappointed.

Price should also be a top priority, but surprisingly, EV drivers today are much less price oriented than you might expect, considering how gasoline buyers are price-obsessed, willing to drive long distances out of their way to save a few cents a gallon. Normally EV driving is so much cheaper than gasoline (my solar-powered price is more like 2-3 cents/mile.) But over time, drivers should resist any 60 cent/kWh prices and charge elsewhere whenever they can.

Stalls should be super easy to use (the plug and play experience of Teslas or Plug-and-Charge is key.) If one has to authenticate with an app or credit card, the stall should begin charging as soon as plugged in, then it can shut off power if the driver doesn’t authenticate within a few minutes. Give them a few minutes to get on wifi, download apps, work out any problems, and if they phone support, keep them charging while support works it out. Improves station throughput and saves customer time, and worst case gives away a few minutes of free electricity.

Almost all stations have bathrooms—free if in a region where bathrooms are generally free, like the USA. Also desired are lighting and safety, and these are normally found, but not always.

Next are already-desired facilities to allow for zero-wait charging. The main one is meals, about the only thing everybody needs, multiple times per day. An alternative is a place to eat take-out. (Drivers can locate good take-out on the way to a charger, order it and pick it up, then eat it while charging.) For this, picnic tables with a cover are a minimum.

Some day, charging stations and their apps (or car interfaces) should let you order a meal on your way to a charger. They can then keep the restaurant appraised of your arrival time, perhaps delivering it (and table/chair/utensils) to the station, or having it ready and waiting when you walk into the restaurant.

There should never be lines to charge. If a station fills up, any lines should be virtual, online. You should be able to be “in line” while driving to the station then get told your stall when you’re ready. In addition, stalls should have two spaces and two cords, so at a full station you can plug in to the next stall that will be available, and charging will begin as soon as the other car is done—while you’re eating or shopping.

May will be surprised to see fast charging (>150kW) way down the priority list. If you’re not going to wait, then charging 10 minutes quicker isn’t really that important. Indeed, a meal at most restaurants or a non-convenience shopping trip usually takes longer than a 150kW charge. It’s actually a pain if you have to get up from your meal to move your car. (Another reason two cords is a plus.) While 350kW charging isn’t a bad thing, it’s expensive and rarely needed, but do try to reserve it for those who actually need it.

Along with multiple cords, have a locker where drivers can unlock it to use/rent adapters if their car has a different connector than the stalls. A lot cheaper than putting one of each cable on each stall.

Fast wifi is always good, and it’s not usually expensive to provide. It’s not a must as almost everybody has fast cellular service. It’s a must if the charging station is in a zone with bad celluar. You only need this wifi otherwise if you plan to wait, and you should not plan to wait—but some people still will, and doing internet stuff is a decent thing to do while waiting. Consider steering wheel laptop trays, or screens you can plug into if there’s a lounge.

Shopping is a good zero-wait activity, but most people just don’t need to shop that much. For locals of type 2 above, who are doing a “fill up,” a store they shop regularly at (like a grocery store) is a must. This means grocery stores should put in charging, not that charging should be across the parking lot from grocery stores. Road trippers do little bits of shopping, but not enough to fill their charging time.

Because EVs don’t go to gas stations, they need other ways to fill their tires, vacuum their cars, clean windshields and get car washes. However, they want to do these things while charging. The Rove station has these things but they are not for use at the stalls. If you can use them at the stalls they become zero-wait activities. One option is to have a locker where you can borrow a portable battery or 12v powered air compressor, or a cleaning cart on wheels, though theft can be an issue for portable things.

Convenience stores are the heart and soul of gas stations today, and in fact they make more profit than the gasoline. They are nice for EV chargers too, but they should not be considered a suitable activity for a charge. Road trippers charging 1-2 times/day just don’t have that much they need to buy at a convenience store, nor do they wish to spend more than a few minutes at one.

The Lounge

A few stations, like this Rove one, have a place to wait. Who wouldn’t like a pleasant place? It should be remembered, that if you have to wait, something has gone wrong. Since I avoid stations where I would have to wait, I don’t really want it. A lounge usually costs money, and the drivers pay, and I don’t want to pay. If having the lounge costs <$1 per customer, it’s tolerable to bundle it in the price. A lounge can also be a place to have loaner air compressors, vacuums, windshield kits etc.

This Rove station does have nearby food (mostly fast food) just off-site, but they turn out to be the most important amenity. They have lots of solar panels too, but that should mean charging is cheaper, not more expensive, especially from 9am to 2pm.

Night

Of course, all the above is for daytime charging stations. Ideal charging is never done there, it’s done at home at night, or at work, while you sleep or work. Daytime charging is for road trips and people who can’t charge at home or work, currently a small part of charging.