There are simply too many people, such as apartment dwellers, with no access to chargers. Others simply can’t get over the idea of charging taking 20-30 minutes vs refueling their ICE vehicles in 2 minutes at gas stations that are, by any definition, ubiquitous. This is on top of the range anxiety that still exists among many.
Then you have the Feds who have only rolled out a small handful of chargers after spending a huge amount of money. This simply gives the appearance of both incompetence and the difficulty in expanding the charging infrastructure. It further highlights the huge disparity between gas stations & charging stations to those who have even a passing interest in going EV.
Then, to make matters worse, we have the experience I witnessed 2 days ago while charging. While I was charging, a friend pulled in 2 stalls away from me with his new i5, his first EV. The i5 is supposed to have plug n charge capabilities, but BMW/EA have apparently had some glitches recently that forces these drivers to use the scanner on the charger. His repeated attempts to use the scanner failed. He then moved to the charger next to me and that scanner wasn’t accepting his input either. Since he was on his way to a meeting, his stress level was pretty high. He then said to me, “This is why I had reservations about going with an EV. I love the car but hate this (motioning to the charger)”. I had to leave, but I told him to call EA and they would be able to initiate a charging session for him. I didn’t ask him, but if his charging experience doesn’t improve dramatically, I wonder if he would buy another EV.
So I see the further adoption of EVs less political and more the result of incompetence managing the existing infrastructure, the cost & difficulty in expanding that infrastructure and the existing, often valid, concerns of the EV fence sitters as well as those unalterably opposed to EVs for personal concerns. It’s a tough nut to crack and it will take time & ingenuity to solve.
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