The following are Tom P. Green’s comments to the California Energy Commission Advisory Committee 12 February 2015 on the need for the rapid deployment of DC Fast Chargers (DCFC) in California. DCFC, also known as Level 3 chargers, can charge consumer-oriented EVs in 30 minutes versus the 4 to 6 hours necessary at Level 2 (L2).
Anyone who has owned an EV, such as a Nissan Leaf, Mitsubishi iMIEV, or BMW i3, knows that it’s extremely difficult to drive the length of California without a great deal of planning—and waiting hours for a slow L2 charge.
There are very few fast chargers available outside the LA and San Francisco metro areas.
Here’s Tom’s comments.
“I am interested in low carbon transportation options and efficient vehicles.
I commend the CEC and Board for electric vehicle infrastructure investments and thank you for the opportunity to comment.
I’m concerned about the paltry deployment of long-distance EV charging: only 9 DCFCs installed by the CEC to date (< $150K, per Investment Plan Update).
Slide 13 of Mr. McKinney’s update showed only about 3 PUBLIC DCFCs outside of metro regions.
There are already 120,000+ EVs in CA. Growth is exponential. Your own documents show EVs will dominate over H2 vehicles for next 20 years.
As you know, the major obstacle to EV adoption is range anxiety, important for (San Joaquin) Valley residents.
Your & private investments in L2 and L3 in metro areas is good: EVs are now practical for local travel in CA.
I urge the CEC to show leadership by investing in building an effective network of DCFCs along transportation corridors. The few planned along I5 and 99 are insufficient to enable long-distance EV travel in most of CA.
I am concerned that your focus on regional plans may have caused neglect of inter-region EV travel.
Need to also include 101 between SB and SJ, extend 101 and I5 to Oregon to connect to West Coast Electric Highway.
A network of ~50 DCFCs along transportation corridors will cost about the same as 1 H2 [Hydrogen] fueling station per the CEC’s recent update report.”
Greene has also written a summary of the status of the CEC’s DCFC deployment. See DC Fast Charging for EVs along California Transportation Corridors. He’s also calling for signatures on a petition for more DCFC in California that he will deliver to the CEC. See Petition the California Energy Commission to install a network of DC fast chargers to enable long-distance EV travel in California this year [2015].
