EV Chargers and Installation Tip O' the Day

So we all know just how fast the cost of EV batteries have come down over the last 10 years. From well over $1,000 per kilowatt to $141 per kilowatt by the end of 2022. That's significant! There have been a few factors that allowed this decrease, but at some point, the decrease is only going to level off.

However, the development of batteries underway that are completely different than those most used currently. I know discussion of different chemical makeups; solid state batteries and other iterations have begun in earnest.

However, I either dreamed or there is a new reality from Polestar that promises a new battery with incredible range. I don 't remember it saying that this battery is going to be cheaper, but the range quoted was a quantum leap over what we experience today. Damn, what could we talk about if it’s not range anxiety?

Then, there are EV Chargers. I've been lurking around selling chargers for 5 years, and I don't remember any significant price change in many or most of the chargers, until now. Now that every electrical contractor (IMHO) can produce a Level 2 charger, seems pricing is dropping, or is at least lower than these new entrants. I know this for a fact, because I lost a municipal bid for one of the best Level 2 chargers made, to a company I have never even heard of that has no discernible footprint of chargers in the U.S.

Distributors seem to not care. If someone is picking a charger on price, they will sell it. They really don't care. They aren't responsible for the charger. This is only one of the reasons I think the continued sale of Level 2 chargers, is risky, and I would only install a Level 2 (from a reputable manufacturer) for home use.

Now Level 3 charger comes along and instantly, the NEVI program pops up with 80% grants for these chargers. But there is a tomato truck full of rules, regulations, site specifics, variable matches, and long-term reporting, that honestly, make this program an issue. The size of the charger, and the requirement for 4 every 50 miles for every location, is a long-term view of a shorter-term business. How long will it take for all 4 chargers at every location to all be used at least one time. It's not going to be anytime soon.

My understanding of Phase 2, every county seat will receive these units too. Have I mentioned Loving County, in Texas. The county seat is Loving (easier to remember). The number of people in the whole County is less than 100. Yes, Mrs. Cleaver, less than 100. Now it is sort of at the crossroads of 2 small state highways in Midwest Texas. But c'mon man, 86 people!!

Chargers will change significantly in 5 years, but the size of Loving County won't. Sometimes, logic needs to be applied.