Electric Vehicle Charging in the Hudson Valley

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed by Congress, creating the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Program.

The Inflation Reduction Act is signed into law, creating new incentives for EV adoption.

Ford and Nissan both pledge to having eight EVs on the road by the end of the year.

Hyundai-Kia pledges to achieve CO2 neutrality and produce 23 EVs and hydrogen cars, and Toyota pledges to produce 70 hybrid models and 15 EVs by 2025.

New York State set a goal of 800 installed DCFCs by the end of the year.

Federal government to procure 100% zero-emission light duty vehicles by 2027 and have all vehicles be so by 2035. All new school busses must be electric in New York State by this year.

Mitsubishi pledeges to 25% CO2 reduction.

Federal goal: 50% of new vehicles sold in 2030 to be electric.

Ford pledges to be 76% emission reduced.

New York State set goal for all new cars and trucks to be zero-emissions, and entire school bus fleets to be electric by 2035.

General Motors, Volvo and Mazda all pledge to be CO2 neutral by year 2040.

New York State goal for off-road and new medium-duty and heavy-duty vehicles to be zero-emissions by 2045.

Toyota, Honda, Nissan, and Ford all pledge to be CO2 neutral by 2050. Volkswagen Group pledges to be CO2 neutral and have 70 electrified models in the pipeline.

The smart and strategic placement of EV charging stations is important. Charging infrastructure should be installed at locations that are convenient for the traveling public, but also at locations where people can support the local economy while then spend 20-30 charging their vehicles. The charging capacity of each station should also be carefully planned. Hotels and residential complexes would best be served by Level 2 chargers, which can take several hours to charge a vehicle’s battery. But highway corridors, municipal parking lots, and tourism destinations need faster charging to meet the needs of people who are passing through, stopping for a short time, or charging quickly on their return home. We must also consider where charging infrastructure is unnecessary or relatively unhelpful. Our transition to EVs cannot be an excuse for the unnecessary propagation of infrastructure. The following is a list of facilities and location categories where communities should prioritize their EV charging installations.

As our communities think about locations for charging stations, it is important to create a business case, sometimes called a “use case.” This will force the community to think about key questions. Is there an adequate volume of people traveling through an area to justify the installation of charging? How far are people to traveling to get to the proposed charging location? Does the distance of their trip require charging, or can they just charge when they get home? Are there activities that can keep people busy or occupied while they charge at a given location? State authorities said that some of their programs either encourage or require a use case to be developed. It might feel good to propose some charging stations at the local library or municipal golf course. But when decisionmakers create a business case, they often find that chargers are not appropriate or necessary at these spots. This reminds us that charging stations are serious infrastructure that require public investment – they are not accessories that should go anywhere and everywhere.

The difficult question of charging-plug quantity is raised in the policy section below. We know that the quantity of EV charging plugs will need to increase as more and more people own electric cars. That means we should future-proof our installations to allow for expansion. This could be as simple as installing a few extra concrete pads, or working with the electric utility to install the infrastructure that is needed for additional chargers, rather than opening the ground a second time in a few years. To the extent possible, our new EV charging installation should include the infrastructure that is needed to expand in the future. An analysis of this future proofing should be included in the business case or use case.

The installation of an electric vehicle charging station is not a simple task for most people who will buy an EV. The installation of a Level 2 charger is similar to installing a new plug for a dryer. Level 3 chargers are significantly more complicated because they use a large amount of direct-current electricity. A licensed electrician should always be hired to install this equipment, at home or at a business. This will ensure that the station is safely installed, works properly, and will help in the future maintenance needed on the station.   

At least one county IDA in the Hudson Valley is now tying tax benefits to EV charging requirements for certain types of projects. In Westchester County, any project receiving tax benefits and incentives must have 20% EV-installed infrastructure in their parking.  This is a good way to incentivize and normalize the inclusion of charging. It is a practice that should be adopted in cases where EV charging is sensible or necessary.

Think about being EV-ready before you pave your streets or parking lots. The easiest time to install conduits, electric lines and other charging infrastructure is while your roads and parking lots are open, before the final paving and striping is finished.

It's important that our environmental justice communities benefit from electric vehicles at a rate that is consistent with other towns, villages and cities around them. The placement of charging in these communities is important, especially since many live in apartments. In addition, the electrification of busses and the adoption of electric carsharing (i.e., Zipcar) can help improve the quality of transportation and reduce emissions in our lower-income communities.

Price transparency is important as more EV charging stations are installed across the region. Some charge a flat fee. Others are free for the first hour. Many locations charge different rates per kWh. Consumers will expect the same convenience and transparency that they get at the gas pump. Previous research has found that pricing information is not always clearly disclosed at charging stations. Patrons should not rely on smartphone apps alone to learn how much they will be charged when they plug in.

Our charging stations will only succeed if they are reliably in operation when people need them. Maintenance is critical. Level 2 and DCFC chargers require different levels of maintenance. Some charging station brands provide their own maintenance. Most stations come with a one-year parts and service warranty, while some networked EV charging stations include maintenance as part of a network contract. Some allow owners to purchase a longer program of maintenance and warranties. Maintenance for EV charging stations can include programming updates, as well as repairing physical damage to the equipment. While routine station maintenance can be minimal, repairing broken chargers can be costly if they are no longer under warranty. Therefore, it is important to establish responsibility for maintenance costs and determine if the site host, charging network, or installer is responsible.  

People who live in an apartment building, townhome, or other multi-family complex likely do not have control over their household electrical systems. This might prevent them from installing a car charger at home, which stands as a huge barrier to EV adoption in some of our communities. Pattern for Progress took the best of zoning ordinances from across the United States and worked with municipal lawyers to draft a model ordinance for our communities. Click the link below to find the draft zoning and adopt it in your community!

A provision in the United States Federal Code (23 U.S. Code § 111) currently prohibits the siting of charging stations on highways built after 1960. That’s because the code says there cannot be commercial use on highways that were funded by the federal government as part of the Interstate Highway System.  Experts say this code is a barrier to the placement of charging stations along our highway corridors because charging – which is a commercial activity – is outright prohibited. This code must be amended to include charging stations as a limited activity so that travelers can reliably charge their vehicles during long interstate trips. A true network of charging along our highway corridors cannot exist without this change.

There is currently no method or consolidated process for measuring the proper quantity of charging stations at individual sites across New York. As we move to expand EV charging at existing locations and install new plugs at additional sites, the question of quantity remains untracked and largely unanswered.  

Consider this example: Five years ago, it was revolutionary to have a single EV charging plug at a New York State Thruway rest stop. But today a single plug can result in long queues of people waiting for an EV to finish charging so the next one can begin. That can lead to EV drivers waiting more than an hour to charge up. That single plug – new and innovative five years ago – is inadequate to meet demand today.

The quickening pace of EV adoption brings difficult questions about the quantity of public plugs. How many plugs is enough at each charging site? How do we monitor use at charging locations over time to make data-based decisions about the need for additional plugs? Should we install the electric infrastructure that is needed for charging demand now, or should it be equipped to meet a projected charging demand in the future? Currently, there is no formula, no standard operating measure, and no central authority working on these issues. No single agency is tracking the use EV chargers to determine whether the quantity of plugs is adequate to meet demand. In fact, private charging networks are not required to share their use data so that local or regional demand can be measured.

This blind spot in the rollout of EV infrastructure needs to be fixed if New York wants to install the right quantity of plugs, at the right time, in the right places, to meet demand. A central authority should be charged with developing a dashboard – similar to a SCADA system – that monitors the use of EV chargers across the state, and private charging networks should be required to connect their data to the dashboard so that decisionmakers can see all the information they need to install the right number of plugs in the future. This will prevent long queues and wait times at chargers, but it will also help governments and private entities to prevent the installation of new infrastructure where it is not needed.    

EV plugs and payment methods should be standardized. People want the same ease at a charging station that they find at a gas pump. The current system of different plugs for different car brands is too chaotic. Similar to household electric, lawmakers should require a universal plug to charge EVs and eliminate the worry of finding plugs that are compatible with each vehicle. Standardizing plugs and their parts will also make things like maintenance simpler and more efficient. The same rule should be applied to payment. EV owners must currently download myriad smartphone apps to pay for charging at stations owned by different networks. Requiring systems for payment by credit or debit card – similar to those available at every gas pump – could help to eliminate this digital headache that is unique to charging stations. The system employed by Tesla is even easier. Car owners keep a credit card on file with the company for the purposes of charging. That credit card is attached to the vehicle’s VIN number. When the car is plugged into a public charging station, the station and car exchange information, and payment is made automatically. The driver can just plug in and walk away. Other car companies are exploring this “plug and charge” interface. This should be widely adopted to eliminate the clumsiness of disparate payment systems.

The success of EV charging will depend on the accuracy of maps that show drivers the location and operability of charging stations. Currently, drivers rely on multiple smartphone apps to find EV chargers. These apps include varying degrees of detail about charger locations, and whether each charging station is reliably in service, broken, or disconnected altogether. Again, centralization and standardization is important. New York should consider a centralized database of EV chargers that can be updated as new ones are installed, along with their operability status.

The expansion of EV charging creates a unique tension for our electric utilities. Our electric utilities are under considerable pressure to keep their rates low and affordable for New Yorkers. At the same time, our electric distribution networks needs huge upgrades to keep up with the demand for EV charging and other electrification goals that are meant to help us fight climate change. Consider this: the adoption of two electric cars and a heat pump would triple the electricity demand for each single-family home in our region. At the same time, a single DCFC requires the same volume of power as a 1,000-unit apartment building. Our current electric distribution infrastructure simply cannot deliver that load of power to all places without upgrades. This requires the expansion of substations, larger transformers, higher capacity wires, and other upgrades that will cost many millions of dollars. The state and federal government should consider whether special funding might allow our utilities to make these upgrades without relying on their ratepayers alone.

The wider adoption of EVs will change the way we power and maintain our cars. This presents a challenge to the business model for gas stations. As of now, the vast majority of EV charging happens at home. This represents a huge economic shift from the way we have fueled motor vehicle transportation for decades. Some gas station chains are trying to adapt. For example, Stewart’s Shops and Mirabito gas stations have worked with the New York Power Authority to host fast-charging stations at their locations. But the success of their transition from fuel to electricity is not guaranteed. The Hudson Valley should carefully monitor the change in market share for gas stations. Will many of them close? Will they adapt and stay open to serve the traveling public in new ways? What happens with tends of thousands of underground storage tanks?

The same forethought must be applied to car repair shops, which have long relied on regular maintenance, such as oil changes, required by internal combustion engines. EVs generally require less maintenance. (Although they do require more tire rotations and replacements.) Does EV adoption become a stressor on our auto repair businesses? Does it require a new business model? These are emerging issues that the nation, state and region must monitor.