Charging Infrastructure in Short Supply

By REBECCA SMITH
The Department of Energy is awarding billions of dollars to companies developing next-generation batteries that can power cars. But one crucial element is in short supply: stations where electric vehicles can recharge.
Though the Energy Department is spending $2.4 billion on developing technology for electric vehicles, very little is for the infrastructure needed to recharge vehicles once they are on the road.
President Obama has announced a $2.4 billion plan to revitalize the U.S. electric car industry. The plan aims to make America a key player in an industry dominated by Asian and European manufacturers, Joseph White reports.
Despite the government money, the industry's chicken-and-the-egg dilemma remains: Demand for electric cars isn't likely to take off unless there are convenient ways to recharge batteries. But utilities and service-station operators aren't likely to spend money on such infrastructure until there are enough cars on the road to make the investment profitable.
"We need domestic supply of cars and batteries. That's important," said Ed Kjaer, director of electric transportation for Southern California Edison, a unit of Edison International in Rosemead, Calif. "But we also need to get the markets ready for these cars by creating the infrastructure. It's not ready now and it's a big concern."
It isn't clear what form recharging stations will take. People with garages will likely have it easiest, able to simply plug into a wall outlet. But apartment dwellers and people who park on the street will need extension cords or public recharging kiosks to obtain electricity. Utilities in California are offering discount rates for overnight recharging, but most customers lack the meters or other hardware needed to tell if electricity is going into a car or an appliance.
The biggest infrastructure grant, of $99.8 million, was awarded to Electric Transportation Engineering Corp., which will work with Nissan Corp. to develop 12,500 240-volt charging stations and 250 480-volt charging stations, the latter offering a fast-charge capability. As part of that demonstration project, 5,000 Nissan electric vehicles will be tested.

But Southern California Edison, a utility focused on electric transportation for decades, was disappointed that some programs proposed by Ford Motor Co. weren't funded. That included a plan to establish charging stations in 15 urban markets, including about $10 million that would have enabled Edison to modernize about 3,000 charging stations it built in the 1990s but that became moribund when the first wave of electric cars faltered.
General Motors Co. and Ford received $30.5 million and $30 million, respectively, to develop, demonstrate and analyze hundreds of electric cars with help from utilities. Utilities and auto makers have been working for years on hardware and control systems to deftly handle recharging and billing. Both want sufficient charging stations to meet the initial demand and, later, they want systems in place to control battery charging so it makes the electric grid stronger, not weaker.
DTE Energy Inc., which owns Detroit Edison, is working with auto makers on systems to recharge batteries at night, after other big energy users shut down, freeing up electric capacity. What they don't want is batteries that begin sucking up power when demand still is high.

Ideally, charging would ramp up as energy from wind turbines increases, a nighttime phenomenon in many regions. Detroit Edison, for example, plans to add 1,200 megawatts of renewable energy to its portfolio by 2015, and it is expected to consist mostly of wind turbines that would reach peak productivity overnight.
"It would be great if we could use wind power to recharge batteries," said Haukur "Hawk" Asgeirsson, manager of power-systems technologies for DTE Energy.
Some DOE grant money also will help trucks run on electricity. Cascade Sierra Solutions is getting $22.2 million so it can develop 50 electricity-fueling stations for heavy-duty trucks, allowing them to turn off their engines and run on electricity while at rest stops. Thousands of trucks will get rebates of up to $6,250 to install the necessary conversion equipment.
Sandor Lau, development director for the clean-transportation-focused nonprofit group in Coburg, Ore., said his organization estimates the stations will save 35 million gallons of diesel fuel in 10 years. California has enacted rules prohibiting idling by trucks for periods longer than five minutes and other states are following.
Mr. Lau said the stations would charge about $1 an hour for electricity, saving truck drivers $2 to $3 an hour through fuel savings because idling trucks burn a gallon of fuel or more per hour.
Write to Rebecca Smith at rebecca.smith@wsj.com