My Brand Only or Preferred Charging Stations

 

Fossil fuel-centric states with GOP leadership are taking aim at “woke” ESG companies, particularly financial institutions, doing business with their state agencies. See my recent Trendy Ideologies blog for more details. The running theme in these efforts is somewhere between climate change marginalization (“we can’t afford the cost” or “technology will solve it”) to out-and-out denial (“it’s only seasonal” or “God promised no more global natural disasters”). Still, warming polar air continues to send frigid air south, wildfires and tropical storms are only intensifying, water supplies in some regions are literally vaporizing while heavier rainfall in others is flooding with increasing damage, searing summer temperatures have become killers and coastal erosion claims more land while destabilizing more coastal properties. That most of this damage is occurring in GOP-dominated regions seems to escape material focus.

As we become more vulnerable to shifting global geopolitical winds, conservative solutions focus on amping up US oil production as a permanent solution. We almost “ran out of oil” once in this country, but production was increased (making the United States, once again, a net oil exporter) due to the pervasive use of “fracking” (pumping chemical-laced water, at high pressure, into former productive oil fields) to extract pockets of petroleum left behind as previously inaccessible. For reasons unknown to me, there is a new assumption – most certainly incorrect – that our oil supply is “once again inexhaustible.” Groundwater contamination and increasing seismic activity near fracking sites have become “acceptable collateral damage.”

The resurgence in reliance on American oil production allows many regions to relax and accept oil as the long-term energy source for America. A moment of global fossil fuel cost surge – the great force behind massive inflationary increases globally – has been replaced in too many states by petroleum supply complacency as prices at the pump subsided. Many are content to look the other way as the resiliency of autocratic states the world over, particularly Russia (which produces approximately the same oil and gas output as Saudi Arabia), as the price of oil has literally “fueled” both their geopolitical power and, in the case of Russia and Iran, their ability to manufacture and deploy massive military weapon systems. Russia would have been forced to end its Ukraine invasion a while ago if its oil exports were truly curtailed as unneeded.

As much as the United States has made the single greatest governmental commitment to fund climate change mitigation – a very large part of Bidens 2022 Inflation Reduction Act – the increase in greenhouse gasses trapping heat in out atmosphere is nowhere near contained. There is one commercial practice that seems out-of-step with fundamental national priorities, but one that remains semi-sacrosanct in a nation that often prioritizes business desires over pressing social necessities: limiting access to charging stations to specific brands. This is not about depriving those brand-directed businesses from revenues. No one is even suggesting that brands building the charging stations give their customers free electricity. But at a time when ubiquitous access to these level three charging stations is one of the primary ways to wean Americans off gasoline and diesel fuel, limiting access flies in the face of an existential threat to life itself.

Make no mistake, level three charging (particularly high-capacity level three chargers) is expensive. Between $100-$150 thousand each, not including the land and the construction of the surrounding facility. But cutting off usage of such stations, even at a fair fueling price, seems to pander to the higher end of EV ownership. If working class Americans might be able to afford a Nissan Leaf or a Chevy Volt, they are likely to find that outside their residence, finding reasonably available charging stations to be a real challenge, particularly in the case of a road trip of any distance whatsoever.

So much of the EV market, particularly in snooty sections of California, New York, Washington State, etc., has been built on upscale brands like Tesla, BMW, Mercedes, Audi and Porsche. Catering to folks with money. But brands involved in building charging stations, notably Tesla, have clearly made availability very limited. “Tesla’s network [approximately 40,000 charging ports worldwide but primarily US-based] is mostly for the exclusive use of Tesla owners, although Chief Executive Elon Musk has said there are plans to open it to other brands. The network gives Tesla an advantage over other EV makers, which have to rely on a patchwork network of privately owned charging stations.” Associated Press, January 7th. You can buy an adaptor to convert a standard EV cord to Tesla-plug standard for between $100 and $150; you just may not be able to use it.

Now, another upscale carmaker, Mercedes Benz, has announced its own program of building charging stations, one that would allow greater access to off-brand consumers… but with a priority given Mercedes owners to reserve access. “Mercedes-Benz says it will build its own worldwide electric vehicle-charging network starting in North America in a bid to compete with EV sales leader Tesla.

“The German luxury automaker said at the CES gadget show in Las Vegas on Thursday that it will start building the North American network this year at a total cost of more than $1 billion. When completed in six or seven years, the network will have 400 charging stations with more than 2,500 high-power plugs, the company said.

“Networks in Europe and China and other markets will follow, with completion of the full network by the end of the decade, when the company intends to sell all-electric vehicles depending on market conditions. The full network will have more than 2,000 charging stations and over 10,000 plugs worldwide, Ola Källenius, chairman of Mercedes-Benz’s management board, told reporters… Each Mercedes station will have four to 12 ports with up to 350 kilowatts of charging power. Mercedes will share the cost of the North American network equally with MN8 Energy, a large solar energy and battery storage operator. EV charging network provider ChargePoint also is a partner.

“The network will address customer concerns about not having enough range to get to their destination, and finding a charging station, said Markus Schäfer, Mercedes’ chief technology officer.” AP. The notion priority or exclusive access is consistent with encouraging the building out new EV charging capacity… but take a good look at the economic class that is the primary beneficiary of Tesla and Mercedes “largesse.” Not the vast majority of Americans, for sure. Sooner or later, we just may have to mandate universal access to such charging stations, at arm’s length, as long as customers pay their fair share. It’s a question of timing… a race against range increases and battery capacity. A race we must win.

I’m Peter Dekom, and the subtle tilt in American policies across the board seems to continue to favor those with money.