The great EV Charger expansion has started

[manitou202]

Over the past 12 months, Colorado has done an excellent job at expanding the Level 3 charger locations throughout the state. They have most of the mountains covered, and all of the major highways. Some of the chargers in the mountains are only 62.5kW or 125kW, but considering you typically travel at slower speeds, and average about 50mph, charging at 62.5kW every couple of hours for 15-20 minutes while you take a break isn't bad.

Just in the past few weeks I've noticed several other states starting to role out major expansions as well. This is a great sign that we will have significantly more charging options available in the next 12-18 months. It will also put pressure on companies like Electrify America to do better.

Here are a few of the states that have started major expansions. The "wrench" symbol means under construction.

Colorado as an example

New Mexico

South Dakata

Michigan

Northern Florida

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[thecoloradokid]

Dave:

This is part of a bigger western states coordinated plan to expand the EV charging network out west. In 2019, multiple western states signed onto an understanding document to use some their Volkswagen settlement money to expand EV charging options. See the link:

https://www.naseo.org/issues/transportation/rev-west

That being said, some states are way ahead of others - Colorado by far being the leader, followed by Utah. States LIke New Mexico and Arizona are just getting started, and then are states like Wyoming and Montana that have yet to even begin. Progress is coming, just very slowly. Colorado was smart and selected Chargepoint, which has the expertise in quicker installs and how to navigate the permitting process. This is why you saw many new charging locations opened in Colorado this past summer. New Mexico, in my opinion, made a mistake by choosing Francis Energy out of Oklahoma since they are not a national operator and do not have the same expertise as a Chargepoint may have.

The biggest challenge, especially for most parts of Wyoming, western New Mexico, eastern Arizona, eastern Montana, southern Utah, and north eastern Utah is that very few people live in the these areas, and even few have EVs. So, finding suitable locations and someone to service, is a huge challenge. Tesla has figured it out, but other charging networks are not Tesla.

Anyway, it is exciting to live in Colorado and know that I can get to the Four Corners without any issues now. I know you are out and about throughout the state, so maybe one day we will run into each other. Cheers!