Creating an effective charging infrastructure is one of the main obstacles facing the universal adoption of electric vehicles.
Tesla is ahead of the pack
Tesla is one of several automakers applying for government grants to help fund its charging infrastructure work. It helps that the average price of AC chargers has remained stable, while DC charger prices have dropped by nearly 28%.
That may change briefly in the U.S., as the federal government mandates more electric vehicle components and charging infrastructure be built locally rather than in Asia, where it's much cheaper to produce.
But those behind the legislation note that eventually, the economies of scale will develop to help bring down prices as more automakers and third-party companies—with some government funding—produce their projects in the U.S.
Why is Tesla doing so well in the area of charging?
Keeping costs down
According to Bloomberg, one of Tesla's strengths is that it can keep its costs low; according to one of its grant applications, the project costs for a Tesla connector are as low as $42,000, while competitors in Europe and North America charge between $100,000 and $250,000 per connector.
The company is doing well because of its size, scale, and established manufacturing capabilities—it's no longer all that susceptible to the same pitfalls facing most electric vehicle startups and even some mainstream automakers.
The chargers are also simple, lacking sophisticated user interfaces and screens—features that, if included, would increase complexity and drive up costs.
Tesla also attempts to make installation easier, with the automaker demonstrating in January that it can set up a dozen Superchargers at one location in just over a week.
That's despite the average electric charging station installation time increasing on average from two years ago thanks in part to logistics and construction hurdles.
EV charging is big money
Naturally, demand for electric vehicle charging stations is predicted to rise thanks to the increased adoption of electrified vehicles.
As we've reported before, electric vehicle charging is becoming more
widespread and will surpass gas stations, with nearly one public charging port for every gas station in the U.S.—a comparison that falters a bit when you realize that gas stations often feature 8-12 pumps on average. It's close, but nothing to write home about.
The U.S. is projected to see 35 million EVs on the road by 2030, which means it will need to install about 478 charging ports every day for the next eight years to build the necessary infrastructure to support them.
Tesla is, naturally, invested in making sure its customers can charge their vehicles. And if it can make a little more of a profit off of them, it's going to do it as cost-efficiently as possible.
It's also opening them up for non-Tesla electric vehicles, which means they'll benefit more than just those who can shell out the dosh for a Tesla vehicle.
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