Is free public charging for plug-ins a good thing?
Shouldn't peak plug-in charging have high costs?
Is free, peak electricity good policy?
Since the launch of the Chevy Volt and the Nissan Leaf I’ve been following the real world activities of a number of these plug-in vehicles. One thing that often arises is the constant charging drivers seek, even in the Volt, as electric power is cheaper than gasoline. And one of the favorite tools of these drivers are the free public chargers in places like California.
Yet, is it really a good idea to reward these drivers with free electricity, even during peak hours?
Certainly, this isn’t much of a problem yet and offering free public charging is a good way to entice drivers to plug-in, but the electricity, especially in California, is far from free, especially during peak hours.
Obviously, moving away from dirty oil, especially foreign oil, is extremely important, but a big problem with America’s cheap dependence upon oil has been a disconnect between the real world costs of oil. For instance, even during non-war times, the US spends many billions securing oil tanker shipping lanes out of the Persian Gulf (I won’t even get into the war, political and pollution costs). Shouldn’t this cost be recovered at the pump? Why is it hidden in military taxes instead? Isn’t this lack of transparency, this lack of reality, part of the reason the US is so dependent upon foreign oil in the first place?
While, without question, I’d argue that it’s better to be dependent upon domestic natural gas and coal-powered electricity than foreign oil, can’t the path to energy independence be a bit more open and honest along the way?
Ohhhh, I know we’re not getting it regarding oil, just pointing out all the problems it has caused when we don’t keep things simple.
Overall, this post came from two things. One, reading about plug-in users using free charging as much as possible and, two an Argonne study on legislative issues regarding plug-ins I read a while back. According to Argonne there is a disconnect in the growing public charging arena this is pitting charge free anytime versus smart grid technologies. Hence, I’m wondering how smart are we being as we progress, is it just a free for all that is throwing money in both directions? Are we building expectations that won’t stand up over time?
Tom,
Here in Southern California you can find EV charging stations at many public parking structures. At these structures, the charging is free. That was more specifically what I was referring to. Thus, I was asking if this is a trend to build upon?
Do the ends justify the means? Or are we building a trend unrealistically, deferring costs, etc. that will lead to a problem the longer we go on – isn’t that the nature of most of our corporate taxing structures, for instance? Likewise, along those lines we can invest massive amounts of money in both smart chargers meant to limit peak charging while also offering free peak charging? My utility offers a number of incentives to reduce peak electric use, yet peak electric use is OK for electric cars? Is this another tax subsidy grab by utilities, for instance?
The business question is an interesting one and I’m sure there will be many different models, but I was really trying to get at public chargers, which I assume are completely funded by taxpayers, not private businesses.
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