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Think about those moments almost giddy with excitement about something and the excitement dissipates as you look even just a little bit closer at the item. You know, like those “you have won the Nigerian lottery” emails. Recently, I had one of those moments on a work trip. Stopped to stretch my legs along I-64, at the New Kent rest stop where I’ve been before, and realized that I had to restart the car — across the parking, 100 feet away, a Dominion Energy – Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) electric charging station. Simply put, YEAH!!!

Yeah, that’s my charger hanging there as I plugged in my plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) for some electrons to move me down the highway a little quieter, a little less polluting, a little more comfortable, a little safer …

The plug-in process made this a Nigerian lottery win situation. This is a 110-volt (e.g., typical basic wall plug level) plug and supports what is called a Level 1 charger. Seeing this — and that one has to have one’s own charger cable — certainly put a damper on the enthusiasm and added an asterisk to the praise above.

That’s right — all of two miles of charge with a 30 minute stop. And, this rest stop has (essentially) the only publicly available charger between Williamsburg and Richmond (see map of VA charging stations). “This is not serious and not a useful step” was a rather polite way of putting my frustration as the bubble had burst on the initial enthusiasm.

A level 1 (110/120 volt) charger provides roughly four miles per hour of charging. For a highway rest stop, that is laughable unless (perhaps) someone plans to sleep overnight in their car. A level 2 (220/240 volt) provides (dependent on multiple factors) 15 to 45 miles per hour. E.g., a 30 minute stop with a Level 2 charger would have come close to fully charging my Ford C-Max Energi‘s 17 miles of electric range. Not like filling a gas tank but enough, perhaps, to get to the next exit. For a situation like this ‘plug outlet’ (since Dominion and VDOT don’t provide charging cables), the investment and operating cost difference to have both 120 and 240 volt service, rather than just 120, would be de minimis. A Level 3 charger, which would boost charging significantly, would cost substantially more.

Now, I’ve been to that rest stop multiple times, with the PHEV, and seem to have simply missed this charging station as it seems to have been there for a long time. From a September 2009 Virginia-Pilot article on plans for EV chargers at Virginia rest stops.

The New Kent Safety Rest Area, off Interstate 64, received the first station this month. It can accommodate up to four vehicles at a time and charges at 120 volts, though Dominion is expected to upgrade it to 240 volts. 

A decade later, we’re still waiting for that upgrade.

While that Dominion/VDOT press release (that came “at no expense to the state“), for simply putting in a 110/120 outlet, might have ‘felt good’ in 2009, real-world requirements and opportunities make clear that it is not even a sub-optimal solution in 2019. VDOT and Dominion should, at minimum, actually do that upgrade to 240 volts — and, more appropriately, have actually plug cables (rather than make it dependent on drivers carrying cables with them).

One-hand clapping over Virginia use of VW settlement money?

Leveraging VW settlement money, Virginia has, underway, a fast charger program with EVgo. Regretfully, what seems to be a rather opaque program (multiple requests for information have been unresponded to), does not seem to be focused on a rapid upgrading of electric charging at rest stops throughout the Commonwealth. (The level of VDOT priority perhaps indicated by the fact that electric charging isn’t among VDOT’s numerous “projects” listing.) The first set of fast chargers will be in Tyson’s Corner, an area where there are already some (though, of course, not enough) chargers already available. Thus, the leveraging of VW settlement funds (for chargers, for electric buses, for …) seems to be another set of ‘one hand clapping standing ovation’ situations to be covered in future posts.

Virginia EV charging, in fact, has too many ‘one-hand clapping’ situations. For example, retailers (like Ikea) providing EV charging at 55 cents per kilowatt hour is absurd. It drives down charging (making the electricity perhaps twice as expensive as gasoline for my vehicle) when simply providing chargers, with free (even if limited) charging leads to significant revenue boosts that greatly exceed the electricity prices. Sigh … one hand clapping Ikea.

Thus, posts to come …