A reporter from CNN recently went on an EV road trip, which proved that insufficient charging infrastructure rather than small EV batteries and range anxiety is a major barrier to electric vehicle adoption. After traveling 950 miles across several states in an EV, the CNN reporter concluded that developing a network of convenient and reliable charging stations is the solution, rather than developing EVs with larger battery packs and more range.
Peter Valdes-Dapena drove a Mercedes-Benz EQS 450+ from New York City to Atlanta, covering around 950 miles. Although the EQS has an estimated range of 350 miles on a single charge, Valdes-Dapena’s vehicle showed an estimated 446 miles on the internal display. The CNN reporter says that the actual range would be lower because he mostly drove on highways at high speeds, and he posits that he could have traveled around 370-390 miles on just one charge.
Based on his experience driving the EV, Valdes-Dapena observed that America’s public EV charging infrastructure was far from perfect. More often than not, public chargers were defective or didn’t work at all. Furthermore, the scarcity of reliable chargers means that even if your navigation system listed a station as available, another driver could plug their car in just seconds before you arrive.
His first day of driving saw him travel from New York to Virginia where he stopped at the Spotsylvania station with just a 16% charge left. At the station, he realized that he had already stopped by the Biden Welcome Center in Denver but didn’t use the fast charger on site, partly because his vehicle’s navigation system didn’t inform him of the charger’s presence.
On the second day, he resolved to make stops when he wanted, not when his EV indicated that it was time to recharge. The charging station at Hillsborough, North Carolina, required around 15 minutes of wrangling before it began charging the EQS. A call to Electrify America fixed the issue and allowed him to finally charge his EV. He arrived at the station with around 50% charge remaining and left 45 minutes later at 91% (358 miles of range).
The drive through the Carolinas revealed a scarcity of charging stations, with Valdes-Dapena saying that there were fairly long stretches where the navigation system didn’t show a single charging station. As he approached the border to Georgia and his available range dwindled, Valdes-Dapena hoped that the charger near the border was functional.
His last charge was at an Electrify America station, and after a call to Electrify America’s customer service, he was able to charge his EV to nearly 100%. Ultimately, Valdes-Dapena concluded that he dealt with glitchy chargers and had to call customer service twice to charge his EV, resulting in some serious charging anxiety. Even in a top-of-the-line EV with more than 300 miles of range, drivers will have to contend with range anxiety as long as America’s public charging infrastructure remains insufficient.
With federal and state governments determined to improve the existing charging infrastructure, electric vehicle makers such as Mullen Automotive Inc. (NASDAQ: MULN) can look forward to better sales as the public notices that charging stations are springing up close to them and on the routes they take while traveling.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Mullen Automotive Inc. (NASDAQ: MULN) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/MULN
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