Volkswagen Reveals Plans for Court-ordered EV Charging Network
A large part of Volkswagen’s emissions scandal penance involves a gargantuan investment into eco-centric technologies and the development of the United States’ electric vehicle infrastructure. The latter should come by way of its Electrify America subsidiary and four $500 million investments separated by four 30-month periods over the next 10 years.
We now know exactly how VW intends to roll out the green carpet with its court-mandated funding.
The money will be divided between urban and highway charging projects with plenty left over for its public education and environmental awareness campaigns. Forty percent of the total sum will be devoted to California, which will likely have the most use for charging stations, but the rest of the country will also see VW-built EV plug-in ports of up to 320 kilowatts — a number that surpasses even Tesla’s Supercharger wattage by a wide margin.
According to HybridCars.com, the initial investments involve Volkswagen spending $120 million on California’s EV charging infrastructure, with an additional $250 million set aside for other states. Of the total, $255 million would be used to construct roughly 300 of the extremely quick charging locations along dozens of interstate and regional highways. The sites are anticipated to house five chargers each but, like Tesla’s 145 kilowatt network, higher volume areas could see stations with as many as ten.
Some locations are expected to finish construction next year, with 200 completed stations expected by mid-2019 — and another 90 or so in 2020. All of the highway chargers are being designed to support a peak charging rate of 150 kilowatts with many reaching 320 kilowatts. That would make long-distance travel in future electric vehicles far more feasible and mimics the joint venture VW currently has in Europe with BMW, Daimler, and Ford. With the exception of Tesla’s Superchargers, most U.S. EV charging points only support between 25 and 50 kilowatts. While not every electric-driven model currently on the road can support that much of a peak charge, some already do and future vehicles absolutely will.
In total, California is expected to see at least 50 highway stations, while the rest of the country will receive a minimum of 240 carefully spaced locations. There will also be another 650 sites in and around metropolitan areas offering 50 to 150 kW charging points. The majority of these will be targeted at shopping centers, parking garages, and places of business. Around 350 of these spaces are slated for California, which has a much higher population of electric vehicle owners.
[Image: Volkswagen Group]
A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.
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Who cares? I'm bored with all these silly cars. Sedans are so ... 20th Century.,.. so non-relevant. THE FUTURE IS PICKUP TRUCKS AND SUV'S. Got it, TTAC? In fact, I recommend you change your name "The Truth About Trucks", TTAT.... So, let the comentariat have at it! ==============================
@28 @JPWhite To the point about battery materials. Lithium is by far the most-utilized material for batteries of all kinds in the developed world now. But OMG is it toxic. Mining nickel really doesn't carry any more environmental or human hazard than any other conventional mining. Lithium mining is laden with DEATH. Liquid, salty death. Growing evidence suggests that mining lithium does far more environmental harm than is mitigated by driving BEVs and hybrids. This is from The Ohio State University's Engineering School's primer on battery tech. https://u.osu.edu/2367group3/environmental-concerns/effects-of-mining-lithium/ This article is from KitCo, a precious metals investment advisor site. http://www.kitco.com/ind/Albrecht/2014-12-16-How-Green-is-Lithium.html And then there's the the geopolitics of lithium. In the same way that dependence on foreign oil is thought to supply at least some cash to at least some crazies who want to do us harm, most of the world's lithium is in China and Leftist South American countries like Bolivia who tend to see prosperous, Anglophone countries as obstacles to their own prosperity. So getting dependent on them for lithium may be sub-optimal. This 2010 article from The New Yorker is a little dated, but still relevant, well-written, and surprisingly apolitical. http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/03/22/lithium-dreams