Electric vehicle road trips no longer a future fantasy

Electric vehicle road trips no longer a future fantasy

By The New Pelican Newspaper

on
December 22, 2022

A partial map of electric charging stations in Florida. [evexpressway.com]

Brady Newbill | New Pelican Writer

There is no doubting the rising popularity of electric vehicles. Rising fuel prices and a desire by some consumers to lessen their environmental impact, coupled with improving technology and efficiency has been motivating more and more Americans to swap the pump for the plug in recent years.

With holiday travel in full swing, electric vehicle owners may be wondering how well their batteries can match up to long distances and traffic jams and where they can find a recharge on the road.

Florida currently has the second highest number of electric vehicles in the nation with nearly 60,000 as of this year. Growing demand from drivers has put pressure on public officials and utility companies to adapt. Charging stations in Florida have increased by over 30 percent since June of 2021 and about $27 million of public funds have so far been invested by the state with an additional $198 million in National EV Infrastructure (NEVI) funding coming from the federal government over the next five years as part of the recent infrastructure bill.

"We have a lot of work to do but there is a huge opportunity with the inflation infrastructure and jobs act," said Dory Larsen, electric transportation program manager for Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. "The federal funding adds a significant amount more to what the state has already invested and we definitely need it across all of our highways and byways, not just the main thoroughfares."

The electric charging stations at the Wawa in Fort Lauderdale at Powerline Road and Cypress Creek Road. [Staff]

Apps and websites are also being developed (plugshare.com) to help drivers navigate the state's growing charging station infrastructure like EV Expressway (evexpressway.com), a new program from Florida Power and Light (FPL). The interactive website and app allows users to map out their itinerary based on where charging stations are available and suggests destination points along the way. For example, the suggested route from Aventura to St. Augustine includes a visit to Kennedy Space Center, where there are several charging stations available onsite and at nearby hotels. While the site only lists stations in FPL's network and omits charging stations in the jurisdiction of other utilities, such as Duke Energy or GRU, more information can also be found on third party apps, including Plugshare and many more in development.

"The trips are doable but they require a lot of planning and I think most consumers just want to be able to get in their car and go without having to think about it too much just like you can with a gas powered car," said Larsen. An important distinction in this planning is the type of chargers that are available. New DC fast chargers, for example, can bring an average electric car to about 80 percent charge in a half hour, compared to older Level 2 AC chargers which add about 30 miles of range for every hour of charging. A full charge for most models of electric vehicles on the market today will get a car about 250 miles down the road.

Advocates are optimistic that the stigma over long distance EV travel is fading away as more resources become available, particularly along smaller highways. To qualify for the NEVI funding, the state designated about 6,500 miles of roads as Alternative Fuel Corridors so more charging infrastructure can also be available in rural communities, an important step in the future of hurricane resiliency and planning evacuations. A supply of portable, solar powered charging stations will also be coming to the state's emergency management arsenal to help residents stay charged during power outages.

"It's really exciting to see all this funding coming to meet demand for EVs coming to Florida," said Larsen. "A recent study estimates that we'll need $39 billion in public charging investment to support our goal of 100 percent passenger EV sales by 2035. The $7.5 billion is only about 20 percent of that so we have a lot of work to do and will need all hands on deck to meet that demand."