By: Theodore Brothers

With the world making unprecedented strides towards a society fully supported by electric transportation, there is a key question that still remains unknown – how do we charge them all?

Currently, the majority of electric vehicle (“EV”) owners charge their vehicle at home, but with it being all but certain that there will be a substantial spike in EV usage over the next decade, it begs the question of how our electric grid can handle such an uptick.  The Biden-Harris Administration has acknowledged this increased demand for charging by recently approving Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Deployment Plans from over 30 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico which effectively provides over $900 million in funding for electric charging infrastructure.  The private sector has also shown increased interest as some automotive companies, like GM, are now beginning to double as technology and energy companies.  Over the next decade, the private sector and the government will have to navigate expanding access to electric charging while also addressing policy concerns, such as accessibility and zoning requirements, and not overloading our electric grid.

With more states, including California and New York, enacting legislation moving towards only selling new zero-emission EV’s by 2035, it is time that our society began investing in a national, sustainable electric charging plan large enough to support our new reality.  Our electric grid not only has to support private vehicles, but also transit fleets, as companies like Amazon, FedEx and even the Federal government have indicated that they either already have or intend to convert their fleet vehicles to zero-emission EVs in the near future.  Electric planes have even been introduced into the electric transportation sphere with anticipations of being in the air by 2028.  The future is here and—if you are an environmental and transportation enthusiast like me—it is an exciting transformation to watch.  Yet, with this sprint towards reducing our carbon footprint, it is important for us to examine how electric charging works to maximize our returns on this major investment in EVs.

EV charging varies quite significantly from the quick 5-minute trip to the nearest gas station that we are all used to.  Currently, while some electric chargers are able to offer a full charge in 30 minutes, on average, it takes an EV anywhere between 2 to 22 hours to fully charge, with the majority of users charging their vehicles overnight.  While this works for now, a major concern is if the majority of Americans switch to this model it may overload our electric grid.

Currently, a large portion of our renewable energy comes from sources like solar panels that are more readily available during the daytime.  If a substantial increase in EV charging takes place at night, this could cause strain on our electric grid or even require us to revert back to increased carbon emissions.  The main solution to this, according to a Stanford study, is to increase the availability of charging systems during the daytime when there is an increased availability of renewable energy, and to limit home charging, especially at nighttime.  As mentioned earlier, the Federal government has already signaled their support to fund States’ endeavors to provide a network of publicly available charging stations to alleviate this issue.  While an amazing step from the Federal government, lawmakers still need to think critically about how this national network will operate to make sure it is easily accessible to all communities – otherwise, the efforts will be futile.

Low-income communities have traditionally been negatively impacted by revolutions in transportation dating back to the invention of the interstate highway system.  When highways were constructed following the Federal Highway Act of 1956, white, middle-class, and affluent neighborhoods were favored and preserved while Black and brown communities were intentionally targeted for disruption.  Highways were specifically built directly “on the formal boundary lines that we saw used during racial zoning” as a way to legally uphold racial segregation.  As a result of these policies, many of these communities are now facing the brunt of the damaging effects from climate change that we are actively seeking to reverse with the implementation of EVs due to decades of increased exposure to harmful vehicle carbon emissions.  While we are no longer in the Jim Crow era, addressing the racial disparities that have resulted from this era is an important factor to consider as we gear up for the next revolution in transportation.

 While this history is concerning, at first glance, it appears as though States and the Federal government alike are learning from our unseemly past.  In President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal that has been signed into law, there is a $2.5 billion Discretionary Grant Program for Charging and Fueling Infrastructure.  This money is specifically reserved for equity commitments for increasing access to EV charging in climate-affected, rural, and underserved communities.

Some states, such as Michigan, are intentionally enacting EV-related programs that ensure mobility systems, like electric charging infrastructure, in lower-income and underserved communities.  Specifically, the state is funding a project that will install fast chargers that are designed to use little power and help ease the reliance on the electric grid.  Other states, such as Massachusetts, detailed in its plan submitted to the Federal government for funding that if there are more than 50 miles between EV charging stations, one needs to be built within a mile from a highway exit.  Massachusetts is also planning to address concern among low-income communities who may face uneconomical surge pricing due to demand by encouraging on-site energy storage as a way to ease the demand charges and overall stress on the electric grid.

There is still a long road ahead of us before the proper EV charging infrastructure is readily available to all Americans, yet, it does appear that State and Federal governments are doing their due diligence to prevent history from repeating itself.  By expanding access to charging stations across the nation, it is likely we will be able to simultaneously ease concerns from wearing out the electric grid while also addressing concerns of accessibility to clean energy in all communities.

 

Student Bio: Theodore Brothers is a student at Suffolk University Law School pursuing his JD degree.  He is also a staff writer on the Journal of High Technology Law.  Theodore received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Public Service and Public Policy from Arizona State University and has previously worked in the sustainable transportation sector prior to law school.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this blog are the views of the author alone and do not represent the views of JHTL or Suffolk University Law School.