Charging Station - Infrastructure

Infrastructure

Charging stations for electric vehicles may not need much new infrastructure in developed countries, less than delivering a new alternative fuel over a new network. The stations can leverage the existing ubiquitous electrical grid and home recharging is an option. For example, polls have shown that more than half of homeowners in the USA have access to a plug to charge their cars. Also most driving is local over short distances which reduces the need for charging mid-trip. In the USA, for example, 78% of commutes are less than 40 miles (64 km) round-trip. Nevertheless, longer drives between cities and towns require a network of public charging stations or another method to extend the range of electric vehicles beyond the normal daily commute. One challenge in such infrastructure is the level of demand: an isolated station along a busy highway may see hundreds of customers per hour if every passing electric vehicle has to stop there to complete the trip. In the first half of the 20th century, internal combustion vehicles faced a similar infrastructure problem.