Is your city providing EV power stations? EVs, Cybertrucks, and Charging Stations

Want a $61,000 Tesla Cybertruck? They’re available. Tesla plans to sell two higher-end versions priced at nearly $100,000. How far can a driver roam on a single charge? 340 miles. Good luck with that.

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Well, the City of Cape Canaveral went ahead and did it, despite my protestations.

Below you can see EV charging stations installed at taxpayer cost planted into the ground surrounding the city’s Community Center/Gymnasium, one of at least three locations where the Level 2 chargers have been installed.

Let’s see how much profit is to be derived from usage by the handful of EV auto owners in this town of 10,000 population. We’ll be watching closely.

Charging Stations
Up until last July, The City had six public level-2 electric vehicle universal charging stations (with 12 total charging ports) that for SEVEN years were available FREE to residents and visitors, done without the then City Council approval, and based solely on the recommendation of the city’s administrative staff at the time. Council was asleep at the switch.

Below: Photos taken last June of plugged-in EV cars charging without cost to their owners at various locations in Cape Canaveral. Free electric power was available for seven years without Cape Canaveral taxpayer knowledge, though we were picking up the tab for the juice flowing into EVs.

So… We the taxpayers underwrote the tab for electricity for EV owners who took advantage of free power to juice up their status symbols, many of them driving in from nearby towns to avail themselves of the city’s (translation: OUR) largesse while they visited the library and/or played tennis and pickleball in our city’s recreation facilities. Not a bad deal, eh? One local car rental agency audaciously used our free chargers to amp up their EVs. We the residents were not aware of the situation or the electric bill until last summer when the city’s elected realized what was happening.

Questioned by residents about the logic of a municipality providing free electricity, the existing City Council voted to turn off the power within 24 hours. Good move.

But then the same Council, priding itself on touting our city as global buzzwords “sustainable and resilient” (and based on the advice of a 20-something “woke” employee) voted unanimously to explore how to turn the city into a “electric power filling station” then subsequently voted to replace the free chargers with revenue making units that require EVs “at the pump” to pay for usage with a specially loaded credit card AND as yet unknown/potential advertisers whose messages will scroll by on an LED screen. Do you know of an EV user who will plug in and stand there reading ads for the two hours or more it will take to recharge their vehicle’s battery?

Twelve locations with dual plug chargers sprinkled around the city, for the convenience of a handful of EV owners. How thoughtful of the city staff and Council to now expand the city’s role to include power stations akin to gas filling stations. And by the way, how will the city compete with existing gas stations that have or will install their own chargers?

Another question: exactly how many filling stations will install chargers, knowing the market analyses indicate a glut of unsold EVs sitting on dealership car lots, a cause of great concern to auto manufacturers and the dealerships trying to offload the impractical machines, with no relief in sight?

According to the Cape Canaveral’s website, “The City’s existing set of charging stations are soon to be replaced with pay-to-use smart stations that allow for real-time monitoring, maintenance awareness, and efficient load management of recharging vehicles. Existing (FREE) stations will not go to waste, however, as these will likely be repurposed for fleet- specific charging needs in order to accommodate an expected increase in the number of fully electrified fleet vehicles.”

Wishful thinking…
Here’s more from the City’s website:

What Comes Next
The next major sector of vehicles targeted for electrification is pickup trucks, the City fleet’s most common vehicle type. Pickup trucks allow for the easy movement of both staff and equipment across the City in a timely manner, can be used to haul, and some can even provide jobsite power in the form of onboard electric generators and outlets. Today, numerous manufacturers are preparing to or already have released all-electric versions that provide expanded capabilities over all-gas versions for several
different reasons. These reasons include more torque, more cargo space in the form of “frunks” in the absence of front-mounted engines, and even V2B charging. V2B stands for vehicle-to-building, and it allows an electric vehicle to be physically plugged into a building to help power it with its own set of batteries should the utility grid fail.

Fleet resilience to natural disasters and power outages is important to maintain consistent and efficient cleanup and recovery operations. Staff is researching and scoping various small-scale energy storage systems that work in tandem with onsite renewable energy installations for a continuous source of
backup electricity in order to meet vehicle-charging demands no matter the conditions. These systems could take the form of dedicated charging stations linked to a solar array that helps to keep a bank of batteries ― housed inside an all-weather proof enclosure ― continuously charged. These battery backup systems can even be linked to existing backup diesel generator assets (which nearly all City buildings currently have) for increased power capacity and infrastructure resilience.

Is your city contemplating doing the same?