While Electric Vehicles Proliferate, Charging Stations Lag Behind

The White House prepares to give states more money to develop EV chargers, but many still haven’t used their past funding

By Jennifer Hiller of The WSJ. Excerpts:

"U.S. efforts to build a national network of electric vehicle charging stations are moving slowly as states figure out how to fairly dole out public funding to kick-start a new service industry.

As the Biden administration prepares to give states $7.5 billion for new charging stations, a similar recent effort suggests a difficult path is ahead. States received $424 million that could be used for charging stations as part of a $2.8 billion settlement by Volkswagen AG VOW -2.81%▼ to resolve allegations that it cheated on diesel emissions tests. So far, more than four years later, they have spent about 48% of those charging dollars.

Six states including Illinois and Connecticut that say they plan to use VW settlement money on chargers have yet to disburse any funds. Four states say they plan to use the money for other projects such as lower-emissions bus fleets, according to data from Atlas Public Policy, a Washington, D.C., research firm that tracks the electric-vehicle industry."

"Texas gave out $21 million of the VW money for chargers on a first-come, first-served basis last November. The money was all gone within one minute, records show. Out of 251 applications, two companies won 85% of the funds: Oil giant Shell SHEL -2.60%▼ PLC and Buc-ee’s Ltd., a rest-stop chain known for its massive bathrooms and bucktoothed beaver mascot."

"But outside of California, the network of chargers needed to service millions of EVs doesn’t exist yet. Environmentalists and auto analysts alike call it a “chicken or the egg” problem and a hurdle to getting more Americans into EVs."

"The Biden administration wants 500,000 public chargers by 2030; McKinsey & Co. estimates that as many as 1.2 million are needed.So far, the U.S. has around 93,000 public chargers, most of which take hours to repower a car"

"The challenge for states is that public funding for EV charging inherently helps shape early winners and losers in a new market. In Indiana, some critics raised concerns that the state’s decision to give $5.5 million of the VW funding to utilities could help them extend their old electricity monopolies into new markets in the 21st century. State officials said the utilities could build the chargers across most of the priority roadways and at a lower cost per location."

"Fast chargers, which repower a battery in about 30 minutes, are particularly in short supply across the U.S. While market leader Tesla built a fast-charger network for its own drivers, the U.S. has fewer than 5,000 locations with 10,000 individual fast chargers that anyone can use, according to government data. Most current EVs can only travel a few hundred miles before needing to plug in."