Written by / Ma Xiaolei
Editor/ Wu Jing
Design / Zhao Haoran
Source/ Forbes, by Brad Templeton)
As long as a fast charging pile supports non-Tesla electric vehicles, it can apply for subsidies in Texas.
The charging subsidy program, called the Texas Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Program (TxVEMP), is one of the settlements for Volkswagen's "emission gate" incident, with a total amount of $21 million, covering 70 percent of the cost of charging piles, with up to $150,000 per charging pile.
The grant program recently received an application from Tesla, which has caused great controversy, because under normal circumstances, Tesla's charging piles can only charge Tesla cars.
Unfortunately, the project follows a first-come, first-served basis, and Tesla came late. The $21 million subsidy has been granted to fund 41 charging station projects for a total of 170 charging piles.
This is undoubtedly a big loss for Texas, because Tesla only applies for $30,000 in subsidies per charging pile, which is lower than any approved charging pile company. And almost all of the approved charging station sites are in existing gas stations. That means Texas spends its money on the most expensive charging piles in the worst locations.
Tesla charging piles cost less
Approved charging project▼
From the list of applied projects, it can be seen that most of the charging station projects are still continuing the "car thinking": built in existing gas stations. As shown in the figure, Tesla's 17 charging stations applied for a subsidy of $500,000, an average of $29,000 per unit. Based on the subsidy amount accounting for 70% of the total cost, the average cost of Tesla charging piles is only $41,000.
Most other applications require the highest $150,000, suggesting that these charging piles cost at least $215,000, and possibly even higher, and that most applications are small charging stations with 2 to 6 charging piles. Tesla charging piles cost only one-fifth of what most other charging piles do.
Tesla is able to put into the site at less than 1/5 of the cost of other non-Tesla participants, the largest and most experienced of these non-Tesla participants, Chargepoint and EVgo. Unlike most businesses that source from third-party vendors, Chargepoint and EVgo are self-built charging stations, so the cost of both is expected to be higher.
Most non-Tesla charging stations are not highly utilized, which is why they are smaller. Assuming that each charging pile costs $215,000, it will take many years for them to become profitable, so they can only achieve massive expansion by relying on subsidies.
Not to mention, the charging pile itself must have cost more than $215,000, including the cost of the entire project, the heavy equipment needed to introduce 300 kilowatts to 2 million watts of electricity to these sites, as well as trenching and other construction projects.
However, thanks to the efforts of Volkswagen's charging network operator Electrify America, the number of non-Tesla charging piles has increased significantly. According to reports, last year, about 7,000 non-Tesla charging piles spread across 3,700 charging stations, and 11,000 Tesla charging piles were distributed at 1,100 stations.
Tesla opens up the charging network
Tesla's open charging network is controversial. Some Tesla owners worry that if non-Tesla vehicles start using Tesla charging stations, it will increase the congestion of the charging stations. Others believe that using the subsidies applied for to build more charging piles for everyone is undoubtedly a big benefit.
Why tesla would serve rival cars, giving up Tesla Cars' huge advantage in fast charging. Causes may include:
Obtained the settlement fund of Volkswagen's "emission gate"
Receive other government subsidies
Charging companies have made high earnings on the stock market
Partner with automakers to help sell cars
Operate electric energy as a profitable business
In the Case of Texas, it is clear that Tesla opened its charging network to enjoy up to 70% of the charging subsidy, but the company may also take some measures to continue to maintain the charging advantage of Tesla owners, killing two birds with one stone. In Europe, they charge more for non-Tesla vehicles than Tesla owners, a scenario that is likely to be repeated in Texas.
Possible measures also include:
Tesla drivers are preferred when site usage is high, but in this way, it is meaningless for owners of other brands to queue up.
Significantly increase surcharges on non-Tesla models during busy periods.
All with CHAdeMO connectors, CHAdeMO has limited compatibility and is mainly used by Nissan Leaf, which is rarely used for long-distance travel.
The cable length of tesla-specific charging piles is very short, and only Tesla's vehicle can connect to the charging port.
Tesla's charging network was the earliest and largest. Its exclusive charging pile can only charge Tesla cars, and early car owners also enjoyed free charging for life.
Tesla claims it sells electricity at cost, and the network was built to boost Tesla's sales, not to sell it. In fact, the feasibility of selling electricity is still being explored. Instead of thinking of "electricity" as a commodity like gasoline, "charging" should be seen as a service.
The company's superchargers also support non-Tesla vehicles at very few sites in Norway, the Netherlands and France. In Europe, Tesla's charging piles use European CCS2 standard connectors common to other brands of vehicles, rather than Tesla's dedicated connectors.
There has been a constant battle between Tesla's dedicated plugs and two standard non-Tesla plugs (CCS and CHAdeMO). Recently, CCS has prevailed with compatibility over CHAdeMO.
CCS for some models to charge the speed is slightly faster than Tesla, a small number of CCS charging piles support "plug and play" charging method, owners do not need to open the mobile phone APP or take the card, just plug in the power supply will start charging, and is automatic billing.
Previously, Tesla owners could buy an adapter to use CHAdeMO charging piles. Tesla says that in the near future, most Tesla owners will have access to cheaper, smaller CCS adapters (some Tesla owners will need to upgrade the cards in their charging systems at an unknown cost, possibly around $200).
Bad location: gas stations
Almost $21 million in grants will go to existing gas stations that won't be able to support Tesla-branded vehicles (unless adapter connectors are purchased). Tesla is 70% of electric vehicles in the United States, which means that they can only be used by about 30% of electric vehicles on the road, while Tesla's charging piles will support 100% of electric vehicles.
If the $21 million grant is fully granted to Tesla, Texas could get more than 700 Tesla/CCS and CHAdeMO charging piles and support all electric vehicles.
The fund's manager, project TxVEMP, said it prioritizes stations along popular travel routes, all within 1/2 mile (800 meters) of each other, and open 24/7.
Gas stations are the least suitable places for fast charging, because the dining and shopping options there are very limited, who will stay at the gas station for dozens of minutes?
What might an ideal fast charging location look like? For road travelers, it's best to look like this:
A tourist destination.
A place with decent dining.
A place to buy road trip supplies.
Hotel.
A shopping spot where people go 1-2 times a week.
Another place where people go every week, such as social clubs or entertainment venues.
A place with wifi and desk to use laptops.
However, the $21 million grant from Texas is hardly satisfied. Appropriations are being used in the wrong places, without relying on market forces and the willingness of drivers to meet real needs.
If a state has a grant to improve its state's charging profile, it should be allocated based on the following factors.
cost. Use the funds to get more sites whenever possible. If the vendor can provide the service at a lower price, they are evaluated.
Charging station availability. It can be used by most Tesla vehicles, as they make up 70% of electric vehicles.
Reliability of the charging station. Keep your site up and running. Many of the charging stations built on subsidies ended up broken and no one repaired them.
Ease of use. A very simple way to pay with Plug-to-charge or credit card. This is more convenient than a dedicated app.
place. Look for locations and routes where charging piles have not yet been deployed. In general, fast charging piles should be deployed in the suburbs (mainly for road travelers) rather than cities.
facility. All charging stations must have more than one restaurant, but it is best to have other facilities to meet the leisure time of 25 to 45 minutes. Equipped with toilet and free WIFI.
You can also consider not doing fast charging. Use funding or legislation to incentivize the deployment of L2-rated charging piles in hotels or hotel clusters.
This article was originally produced by Automotive Business Review
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