Controversial opinion #1: Hybrid vehicle charging

As an advocate for plug-in vehicles, I sometimes have to state an opinion that may seem anti-plug-in, until you dig a little deeper. Today, I have been thinking of vehicle charging and infrastructure.

I understand completely, that one thing about plug-in vehicles that caused me to fall in love with them, is the nerdiness associated with tracking results. Within three days of acquiring my first Chevy Volt, I started blogging about the OnStar RemoteLink app and all the data it provided. Once I had level two chargers installed, I blogged about my spreadsheet, that I carried around in my iPad, to document every single drive, to help me understand the car’s total cost of ownership, compared to my last non-plug-in vehicle.

I totally understand that for many of us, these stats are like a video game. “Players” want to squeeze every mile they can from their battery packs. Their enthusiasm is how others learn about the EV experience, without the bias of oil companies, EV manufacturers or others, who may have an agenda. We EV owners want to share our excitement about our new adventure (and possibly to justify the cost of our new toy). We want bragging rights.

That’s great, but we can get caught up in the video game aspect, diving into the details, and miss the bigger picture.

Plug-in vehicles are now beginning to go mainstream. I see it in my job as an EVangelist, on Facebook, in traditional media, as well as on the road. More and more of these vehicles are popping up in people’s lives. Many of us have had multiple plug-in vehicles already. (There have been five in our household so far, as three of them were leased.) This warrants an adjustment for owners, going forward. Charging infrastructure is insufficient. We’ve all heard how companies are adding chargers for their employees and/or customers. We’ve heard how part of Volkswagen’s “diesel-gate” penalty will be used to build infrastructure. We’ve heard how some manufacturers are partnering with companies, who sell and install chargers, to speed up the rollout of infrastructure.

Therein lies my issue.

We all want these vehicles to go mainstream. We all want more choices, like pickups, SUVs, two-seat roadsters (please!) and more. We want battery technology to continue to improve, giving us more range and quicker charging. Many of us want to see the end of the internal combustion engine (ICE) and the environmental problems they generate. Many, if not all of us, believe that mankind is a big contributor to global climate change and feel the very existence of life may hang on what we do now, to curb the generation of greenhouse gases.

This raises a question: Are we concerned enough about the big picture that we’re willing to lose the video game?

Those of us, who drive plug-in hybrid vehicles, may want to have bragging rights to the highest electric efficiency, mileage, etc., but we shouldn’t hurt the progression to zero emission transport by being greedy. We hybrid owners do not need to use public charging infrastructure. I say this as a person who has been driving a Chevy Volt just shy of six years. In that time, I’ve plugged into a public charger, only a handful of times, mostly out of curiosity. I’m not the sort of person who needs or wants to hang out at a drug store or restaurant for several hours. But more importantly, I realize there are people who may not make it home or to their place of employment, if I occupy a charging spot frivolously. Of course, I am speaking about completely electric vehicles that do not have a backup ICE to keep them rolling, after the battery pack is depleted. Specifically, I’m speaking about the early EVs that had much less range than the current generation. Owners of the original Nissan Leaf, went out on a limb (pun intended), by buying or leasing their EV, as did owners of the Mitsubishi iMiEV, BMW i3 (non-Rex version), Ford Focus EV or Toyota RAV4 EV. Battery technology, at that time, provided a fraction of the EV range of the latest electric vehicles. Many of those EVs are still on the road and fulfill their owners’ (or perhaps secondary or tertiary owners’) needs. However, depending on weather, terrain, etc, they may need to stop and charge. Unlike an ICE vehicle or hybrid, if they run out of electricity, roadside assistance can’t pull up and pour in a gallon of electrons to quickly get them to the next charging station. Their EV will have to be towed there.

Imagine how someone, stranded by lack of available infrastructure, will discuss their ownership with friends afterward.

Anecdotally, I have even heard of fist fights breaking out at charging stations in California!

There is another group of people we have to consider: those who live in apartments or other forms of multi-family housing, that do not have the ability to charge at their home and are not fortunate enough to work for a company that provides chargers for their employees’ use. Even those with newer EVs, with impressive range stats, will have to recharge somewhere. Should I, as a plug-in hybrid owner, deny them the ability to join the EV revolution, just so I can say I’ve driven X number of miles without using gasoline?

We’ve all seen the poor, deluded, backward souls who park their ICE vehicles in charging spots, out of ignorance or politics or spitefulness. We’ve heard EV owners talk about “topping off” their charge, even though they had plenty of range to make it home to their own charger. Those behaviors provide enough of an obstacle for EV owners about to become stranded. Let’s not add to that challenge. If we can be thoughtful about the environment and our carbon footprint, we can be thoughtful about not using chargers, when we don’t actually need to.

One last thing: It’s about time parking enforcement started warning, then ticketing and as a last resort, towing non-plug-in vehicles that block charging spots.

Just my 2¢