Grand Canyon Times

A Wall Street Journal reporter touched upon two of American consumers' biggest concerns about electric vehicles during an EV road trip plagued with charging station and travel range challenges.

“I thought it would be fun,” Rachel Wolfe wrote in the WSJ article. “That’s what I told my friend Mack when I asked her to drive with me from New Orleans to Chicago and back in an electric car. I’d made long road trips before, surviving popped tires, blown headlights and shredded wheel-well liners in my 2008 Volkswagen Jetta. I figured driving the brand-new Kia EV6 I’d rented would be a piece of cake. If, that is, the public-charging infrastructure cooperated.”

Wolfe calculated that during the four-day 2,013-mile road trip, she and her friend spent $175 on charging the Kia EV6. The equivalent cost for gas in a Kia Forte would have been $275, according to AAA average national gas price data during the time of their trip. However, Wolfe said, “that $100 savings cost us many hours in waiting time.” The distance required them to charge the EV a total of 14 times, which amounted to 18 hours of time waiting for the vehicle to charge.

Today's electric vehicles can travel an average of 250 miles on a single charge, according to the University of California Davis EV Research Center. The time it takes to charge up depends on how large the battery is and what type of charging station is used. EVs with larger batteries can take up to 20+ hours with a 120V charger and four to eight hours using a 240V charger. Those that are equipped for fast-charging can receive an 80% charge in about 20 minutes.

A Consumer Reports survey, which collected 8,027 interviews, shows more than six in 10 Americans say weak charging station logistics is preventing them from buying an electric vehicle, while more than half (55%) say EVs' limited travel range on a single charge is preventing them from purchasing one. Additionally, nearly two-thirds (63%) of Americans surveyed said they would not purchase an electric vehicle today. Of those who said they're concerned about cost-related factors, 58% of respondents said the high purchase price of an EV is holding them back from buying.

In accordance with his clean energy stand and commitment to having EVs make up 50% of new car sales by 2030, CNBC reports, President Biden is extending a $7,500 tax credit for buyers of new all-electric vehicles under the new Inflation Reduction Act signed into law this month. However, according to Seth Goldstein, a senior equity analyst at Morningstar, the tax credit has "price and income restrictions". For instance, sedans must be sold at a price below $55,000 to be eligible. SUVs, trucks and vans must be sold below $80,000 for the buyer to receive a tax credit.

The current number of EV charging stations in Arizona is 2,367.