Some Say Level 2 Charging Should Be Free – Should It?
By Edward A. Sanchez – June 28, 2021
Being a capitalist at heart, I believe it is in the long-term interest of any business operating within the realm of EVs or related services to have standalone profitability or at least (economic) sustainability as their endgame. As we have seen many times before, businesses or organizations that count on long-term government support are often caught off-guard when their funding is cut or curtailed. While the current administration may be supportive of green energy, the next one may be indifferent or antagonistic. When the incentive for maintenance or growth is cut, these assets become liabilities, and if they’re not producing revenue, they’re often neglected or abandoned.
In a recent post on CleanTechnica, contributor Jennifer Sensiba tried to make the case that Level 2 charging in rural or remote areas should be essentially free, and that the ostensible value-add of L2 charging at businesses will bring in enough incremental revenue in the form of increased business activity to justify themselves. I have, indeed, found some free L2 charging stations in the wild, but they have most often been found at municipal or government facilities. Yet while I certainly believe there is some merit in her argument, I think it should be the business’ or merchant’s choice whether or not they want to charge for it. Certainly, if businesses are asking an exorbitant rate (reportedly as much as $9 an hour, in some cases), I would also not be tempted to utilize that charger at that rate.
Those who jumped on the EV bandwagon early in the hopes that their businesses would be overrun with affluent EV drivers eager to spend money often saw dismal utilization rates of the equipment. Depending on the contract they signed with the charging network – or even worse, if they paid out-of-pocket for the installation – some didn’t see the level of traffic or business they expected and either actively disable (by putting a trash bag or caution tape on it) or simply neglected the equipment to the point that it’s no longer usable.
Should public Level 2 chargers be free to use? The fact is, there’s a cost involved with many aspects of the charging process.
Honestly, I believe the greatest friction in on-the-go EV charging lies in the hassle of having to validate payment method and initiate charging. If there were truly universal plug-and-charge (related, but not to be confused with the ISO 15118 standard, dubbed Plug&Charge). Most people wouldn’t object to a $3 or $5 charge for powering up at an L2 charging station if it didn’t require multiple steps.
So returning to the CleanTechnica premise, simply painting with a broad stroke and proclaiming that all L2 charging should be free seems somewhat naïve to me.
Should the charging networks set a cap on the per-hour or per-kWh rate for participating accounts? Perhaps. Individual states may even enact legislation along those lines. Unfortunately, the free market is sometimes messy, and will sometimes result in under- or over-utilization. The latter often sparks greater development to ease congestion and wait-times, so in a sense, it is a self-solving issue. Another option is to offer free charging with purchase, or a QR coupon code on the charging station redeemable toward the purchase of an item or food at the participating merchant.
The modern EV ecosystem is still in its relatively early days, and the pain and frustration experienced by both consumers and businesses in the area of EV charging is nowhere near over. There will still likely be a decade ahead of experimentation and trial-and-error, until a relatively broad consensus emerges on the most rational, cost-effective, and easy-to-use approach. We’ll see where everyone’s patience level is in this new EV “Wild West.”
(Images by Phil Royle)
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