{"id":410,"date":"2022-12-16T14:11:00","date_gmt":"2022-12-16T19:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/benoit.marcoux.ca\/blog\/?p=410"},"modified":"2022-12-16T14:11:02","modified_gmt":"2022-12-16T19:11:02","slug":"preconceptions-on-evs-lead-to-wrong-infrastructure-decisions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/benoit.marcoux.ca\/blog\/preconceptions-on-evs-lead-to-wrong-infrastructure-decisions\/","title":{"rendered":"Preconceptions on EVs Lead to Wrong Infrastructure Decisions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Drivers of internal combustion vehicles far outnumber drivers of electrical vehicles (EV). Meaning: they are often the ones deciding on EV matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Based on a few formal surveys and many ad hoc conversations with drivers and deciders, I unfortunately see that preconceptions on EVs too often drive decision-making on EV matters. I compiled the differences in thinking for combustion and electrical vehicle drivers in the table below. Warning: reality might shock combustion drivers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Combustion Drivers Think <\/strong><\/td>What EV Drivers Know<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Full charge:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cYou need to charge to 100% before driving.\u201d<\/td>Charge enough:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cI just need to have enough battery to get to where I need to go.\u201d<\/td><\/tr>
Long charge time:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cIt takes much longer to charge your EV than to fuel an ordinary car.\u201d<\/td>Quick charge (1):<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cIt takes seconds to plug my EV and then I usually go do whatever I need to do.\u201d
Quick charge (2):<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cIf I\u2019m on a road trip, I try to charge at my destination (hotel, cottage\u2026) so I don\u2019t have to wait.\u201d
Quick charge (3):<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cIf I can\u2019t charge home, I get my car to charge overnight at a curbside station, at my workplace, or while shopping.\u201d
Don\u2019t stand there!<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cDon\u2019t you hate standing beside your car, sweeting, freezing or being rained on, while holding a filthy gas nozzle?\u201d
Slower, but who cares?<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cYah, it takes a bit longer to charge at a fast-charging station, but I only charge there as a last resort and very rarely, so it doesn\u2019t matter much since I saved so much time rarely going to gas stations.\u201d<\/td><\/tr>
Range anxiety:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cWill you have enough charge in the battery to get where you want to go?\u201d<\/td>Mostly charge at home:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cI mostly charge at home and most of my driving is within the 400\u00a0km (250\u00a0mi.) range of my vehicle.\u201d
Charging anxiety:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cWill I be able to charge when I get to the charging station? Will there be a problem such as a broken charger, blocked access, a long waiting line or a combustion vehicle in the stall? How long will it take to charge with this fast charger?\u201d<\/td><\/tr>
No charging station:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cI don\u2019t see charging stations around where I live.\u201d<\/td>Easy to find:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cCharging sites are easy to find using apps like ChargeHub or PlugShare.\u201d
Good geographic coverage:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cFast charging geographic coverage outside cities is quite good, but there may not be enough charging stalls at peak times.\u201d
Slow is best:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cI rather charge at one of the many slow (level\u00a02) destination chargers, often for free, instead of waiting at a fast charger.\u201d
Poor layout:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cWhy are fast chargers in the remotest corner of the parking lot, or in the middle of nowhere, without a canopy, and requiring backing up?\u00a0
No amenities:<\/strong>\u00a0Is there a restroom and a place to get coffee at this charging station?\u201d
It\u2019s complicated:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cWhy so many different price scheme? How do I pay? Why do I need to have so many apps on my phone? Don\u2019t you want my business?\u201d
Unreliable public chargers:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cPublic chargers, especially fast ones, are often broken.\u201d<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Messaging and actions to accelerate EV adoption by combustion drivers need to dispel these\u00a0preconceptions. However, these are different than the messaging and the actions necessary to meet the needs of EV drivers. For example, increasing visibility of charging stations will help combustion drivers realize that there are, indeed, many charging stations around, but it won\u2019t help EV drivers who know how to find them anyway. However, having drive-through layouts and canopies would be greatly appreciated by EV drivers.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dichotomy between combustion and EV drivers makes it difficult for government to promote EV adoption while ensuring that the right infrastructure is deployed. This contradiction also led to many charging operators and site owners to install chargers which ended up being lightly used, either because they are not well matched to the site, not well situated, poorly laid out or simply unattended and broken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Better understanding what combustion drivers and EV drivers think will help us make informed investment decisions. <\/p>\n

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Drivers of internal combustion vehicles far outnumber drivers of electrical vehicles (EV). Meaning: they are often the ones deciding on EV matters. Based on a few formal surveys and many ad hoc conversations with drivers and deciders, I unfortunately see that preconceptions on EVs too often drive decision-making on EV matters. I compiled the differences […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-best-practices","category-electric-vehicles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/benoit.marcoux.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/benoit.marcoux.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/benoit.marcoux.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benoit.marcoux.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benoit.marcoux.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=410"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/benoit.marcoux.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":411,"href":"https:\/\/benoit.marcoux.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410\/revisions\/411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/benoit.marcoux.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benoit.marcoux.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benoit.marcoux.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}