There Aren’t Enough Charging Stations to Drive an Electric Car – Right?

If often hear “there are not enough charging stations so I can’t get an electric car.”

Electric cars utilize a different paradigm for fueling (charging).  They are very similar to your cell phone.  Most of the time, you charge your phone at home, overnight.  Occasionally, you charge it at the airport or other destination if your are traveling.  The same applies to electric cars.  This is why we don’t need a charging station complex on every corner.  If you have a garage, you have an electric car fueling station – each morning you depart with a full “tank.”  For daily local driving, you will rarely need a public charging station.

“But what if I want to go on a road trip?” Great question!  If you are a Tesla owner, the Supercharger map above shows their Supercharger network (more info here).  It is a high powered network that will add 180 miles of range to your car in 30 minutes.  Leaving your home with a full charge of 220 miles means you can drive up to 400 miles – stopping only once for 30 minutes to charge.  This is usually free for Tesla drivers.

If you won’t be a Tesla owner, DC fast chargers are popping up all over the country for all other vehicle makes/models.  Here’s a decent representation of where they are in the Sac/Reno/Tahoe area (some are Tesla Superchargers but you get the idea).  Take a look at http://www.plugshare.com to see what’s near you.  They don’t charge quite as fast as the Superchargers do – but stopping for a relaxing hour lunch will get you an extra 150 miles (approx.).

Remember, no more waiting for oil changes or gas station fill-ups.  This is a trade off for the occasional road trip where you have to spend a little more time charging.