At the new Tesla Diner in Hollywood, a retro-futuristic drive-in, you can catch a short film lasting about 30 minutes—the typical length of a charging session at a Supercharger—while you plug in your car. You can also get lunch (on the menu: a Tesla burger with “electric sauce”) while you use one of the 80 chargers on site.
It’s not the only attempt to reinvent the gas station in the age of electric cars. A startup called Rove opened a charging center last year that includes a lounge where drivers can pull out their laptops and catch up on work. Ionna, a coalition formed by automakers, is building “Rechargery” sites that also include lounges and coffee. The concept is simple: If it takes longer to charge an EV than to pump gas, gas stations need to become a better place to hang out.
But this probably isn’t the future of EV charging—or only a small part of it. Elon Musk has said that he wants to build a network of new diners if the Hollywood location is a success. (Don’t hold your breath: It took seven years for Tesla to build the one that just opened.) It could be helpful as an interim solution. But most EV charging will ultimately look different.
First, faster charging is on the horizon. In China, BYD is rolling out EVs with batteries designed to charge in five or six minutes, and building a network of ultra-fast chargers to support the vehicles. Solid-state batteries, under development now, will also enable fast charging when they eventually come to market. If faster-charging battery technology becomes widespread, the typical gas station model wouldn’t have to change.
It’s more likely, though, that gas stations will become less and less important, as charging becomes embedded everywhere else. Already, around 80% to 90% of EV drivers in the U.S. charge at home most of the time. It’s more convenient than going out of your way to a charging station. It’s cheaper. It’s also better for your car’s battery—and the electric grid—to charge slowly, over hours rather than minutes. (New tech may help batteries degrade less with fast charging, but the power demand from chargers is still a challenge for the grid.)
For EV owners who live in apartments, shared chargers in garages are becoming more common, so they also have the option to charge at night. Curbside chargers on streets are also beginning to roll out in some cities.
If drivers plugged in at work, and slowly charged during the day, the network of cars could help store extra solar power without the need to build as much large-scale battery storage infrastructure.
And when someone needs a fast charge, that can happen at the places they already go. Some stores have had EV chargers for years, and more retailers keep rolling them out. Starbucks is building chargers at some stores. Fast food chains from Dunkin’ to Chick-fil-A have started adding chargers at some locations. Walmart plans to install chargers at thousands of its stores.
Cars spend 95% of their time parked. And unlike gas cars, EVs don’t need supervision while they’re refueling, so they can take advantage of that unused time. Instead of creating entertainment for new charging stations, maybe we just need to keep adding more chargers to the places where cars already park.
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