Megawatt charging for electric big rigs is starting to arrive

Megawatt charging connector at WattEV charging station in Bakersfield, CaliforniaAfter a few years of slow rolling, megawatt charging for electric commercial trucks is arriving in a substantial way. WattEV this week announced the opening of a solar-powered charging station for medium-duty and heavy-duty commercial trucks in Bakersfield, California. Announced in 2021, it's the fourth station WattEV has opened, following three...

Musk: Tesla Supercharger network plans $500M expansion despite layoffs

Tesla SuperchargerDespite recent layoffs, the Tesla Supercharger network is due for an expansion, CEO Elon Musk claims. Tesla will spend "well over" $500 million on the Supercharger network this year, Musk said Friday on X (formerly Twitter), the social media network he owns, adding that this investment will fund "thousands" of new chargers and is separate from any...

BP seeks stranded Tesla Supercharger sites in $1B EV charging buildout

Tesla Model 3 (Europe-market refresh) BP is eying Tesla Supercharger sites as part of a planned expansion of the oil giant's U.S. charging network, Bloomberg reports. The company said it "is aggressively looking to acquire real estate to scale our network, which is a heightened focus following the recent Tesla announcement." Tesla CEO Elon Musk earlier this month fired most of the...

Here’s how California seeks to cut the cost of home EV charging

Lucid Connected Home Charging StationSpikes in electricity rates can raise the cost of charging an EV at home, but California has a solution. As explained in a recent post on The Equation, from the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), California is considering adding a fixed charge on electricity bills from its largest utilities in exchange for a reduction in the per-unit price of...

Survey: Local governments see EV charging as costly, lower-priority

Rivian Waypoints chargers at Holland State Park, MI - Photo by Diane Dawson Wilks, c/o Michigan DNRMore local governments across Michigan see EV charging as a relevant issue, but the number is still fairly low, according to a new University of Michigan survey, and those interested in EV charging see cost as a barrier. While the survey is Michigan-specific, it's the traditional hub of the auto industry and probably represents a greater awareness...

EV charger reliability gains will take more than a Tesla connector

Tesla chargingNearly every EV brand in North America is adopting Tesla's North American Charging Standard (NACS) connector and gaining access to the automaker's Supercharger network. But despite that network's fairly good reputation for reliability, the NACS connector alone may not guarantee an overall improvement in charger reliability, says one expert. Joerg...

Electrify America EV charging network set to grow by 25% in 2024

2022 Hyundai IONIQ 5 at Electrify America DC fast-charging stationElectrify America confirmed Thursday, on the sixth anniversary of its first fast-charger installation, that it’s planning a big expansion of its fast-charging network in 2024. EA aims to reach 5,000 chargers by the end of the year, including larger charging stations and broader support for Plug & Charge payment tech. In 2023 it expanded...

Flexible controls could boost EV charging station reliability

Ionity charging in FranceEVs and charging stations have aspired to provide EV drivers with something that rivals the turnaround time of gas stations. While charge rates are important, reliability and simply being able to get a charge, ultimately, are perhaps more important points that some charging networks seem to have glossed over in the process. According to a 2023...

Does EV home-backup capability outmode the Tesla Powerwall?

2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV with GM Ultium Home energy systemGM last week announced details regarding its vehicle-to-home (V2H) system, set to launch with the Chevrolet Silverado EV RST, that will help EV owners back up their home without the help of a storage battery like a Tesla Powerwall or a backup generator. It’s ultimately part of GM’s big energy play that sees EVs becoming home power...

US EV fast-charger growth is accelerating, filling in the flyovers

2023 Cadillac Lyriq at EVgo DC fast-charging station.The U.S. now has nearly 8,200 public DC fast-charging stations, filling in gaps on the route map, according to a new Bloomberg report. The number of public fast-chargers increased 7.6% in the first quarter of 2024, fueled by the Biden administration's $5 billion National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program, according to the report...