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Air at EV charging
(kbin.social)
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I fully expect as EVs start becoming more popular, we'll see more businesses that build services around fast charging. Right now, it's more of an ad hoc situation, where these things are placed in small lots as just standalone charging because it's cheap and simple, but as it proves to be the case that people who are charging want something to do in the meantime, that kind of product and/or service will catch on.
Air, for instance - one could easily package an EV charging station with a compressor addon, allowing complementary tire inflating on their charging stations. Right now, they're just focused on making the chargers more capable and reliable, but when most brands are pretty consistent across the board, they will want more features to attract customers.
I can imagine investors are coming up with all sorts of ways to expand on chargers. I could see Montana going hard on adding little gambling outposts where you can sit and play slots and buy junk food from vending machines while you wait. I think it will be quite a while before we see gas stations shutting down due to lack of interest, but it should be a no-brainer to use that same building in nearly the same way, just for EV charging instead.
I think the state legislation on this is going to be interesting. Do we again push the costs for infrastructure onto private parties? Or do we let the free market handle it - like the $2.00 I paid for 5 mins of air?
There's a company near me that is piloting a mobile charging service. https://www.sparkcharge.io/
When the charges on our thru-way all failed over Memorial Day weekend, they provided the emergency service. I heard they were also in talks with AAA to be something that a tow truck could carry, or some emergency service vehicle.
Solutions exist. Just not yet at scale.