America’s Charging Future
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Building an inclusive charging infrastructure to make electric cars more practical for everyone.
An April 22nd, 2022 study by McKensey, “Building the electric-vehicle charging infrastructure America needs,” provides a detailed look at government funding programs, charging use cases and the business models required to support a growing demand of electric vehicles in all demographic categories.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), passed in late 2020, provides $7.5 billion to develop the country’s EV-charging infrastructure. The goal is to install 500,000 public chargers — publicly accessible charging stations compatible with all vehicles and technologies — nationwide by 2030.
However, even the addition of half a million public chargers could be far from enough. In a scenario in which half of all vehicles sold are zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) by 2030 — in line with federal targets — they estimate that America would require 1.2 million public EV chargers and 28 million private EV chargers by that year.
The need for charging infrastructure is only likely to grow as the number of EVs on the road increases. Investing in charging infrastructure now will help ensure that America is ready for the mass adoption of EVs.
Achieving the country’s overall net-zero goals will require a mass shift from cars and trucks with internal combustion engines (ICEs) to zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs). The federal government has set a target of having half of all new passenger cars and light trucks sold in 2030 be ZEVs, which includes battery-electric vehicles (BEVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), and fuel-cell electric vehicles (FCEVs).
The charging infrastructure for EVs will need to be significantly expanded in order to meet this goal. In addition, EV education and outreach programs will need to be developed to increase public awareness of the benefits of EVs and to dispel any myths or misconceptions about them. With a concerted effort from the government, automakers, and the general public, the goal of transitioning to a fleet of ZEVs is achievable.
The federal government has earmarked $7.5 billion to pay for the installation of public EV charging infrastructure. Of this…
