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Why does the US government subsidize the building of EV chargers? (driveelectric.gov)

submitted 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) by csm10495@sh.itjust.works to c/evs@lemmy.world

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At one point I thought that if the Government was giving money for EV chargers, they would be either at-cost or free to use.

One of the first built was at a Flying J truck stop in Ohio.

I looked on plug share and found one in Hubbard, OH and it's 67c per kwh (https://www.plugshare.com/location/582660). The average cost of electricity in that area is less than 15c per kwh. At that kind of price, gas could be a cheaper option.

Why does the government subsidize in a way where already wealthy companies get public money to build chargers, and make a ton more money off the rest of us?

(This is not a political statement at all. I just don't understand why public money goes to make certain private folks more wealthy. I figure I must be missing something).

Thanks for your thoughts!

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[–] csm10495@sh.itjust.works 1 points 4 months ago (3 children)

I agree with all of this in theory. Though still, why not require certain profit margins, or something? To me its mostly makes already wealthy companies building infrastructure: even wealthier.

I'm saying all of this as an EV driver too. If I use these chargers, it would be more expensive than buying gas and a similar vehicle. I think to actually get people to move more towards EVs, they need to be cheaper in terms of cost to purchase and refuel.

Also PS: more 350kwh fast chargers pls.

[–] fruitycoder@sh.itjust.works 2 points 4 months ago

Your last paragraph is probably a good reason why. Its a pot sweetener, just enough to get people to do it and maybe some stipulations to make it more beneficial to the economy at large.

If the government can spend 100 dollars and convince you to invest the other 900, then its a 9x times more effective spend of that money.

[–] partial_accumen@lemmy.world 1 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

I agree with all of this in theory. Though still, why not require certain profit margins, or something? To me its mostly makes already wealthy companies building infrastructure: even wealthier.

Because private companies won't build them under those terms. A private company's goal is profit. They can make more money doing other things with their money.

[–] csm10495@sh.itjust.works 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Then the government should build and operate them as infrastructure. Sort of like roads.

[–] partial_accumen@lemmy.world 1 points 4 months ago

Then the government should build and operate them as infrastructure. Sort of like roads.

Many local governments do install EV chargers. The ones we're talking about are over and above those to incentivize private companies to build out larger EV charging networks.

[–] PersnickityPenguin@lemm.ee 1 points 4 months ago

The same way that government doesn't cap the price of gas. That's for the market to decide, and EV charging rates are still being figured out. Most lose money.