- [Narrator] When President Biden test drove

a new electric vehicle from Ford, he liked what he saw.

- This sucker's quick.

- [Narrator] But the industry has a problem to solve

before consumers get onboard with EVs: charging.

Experts say the concerns over charging

are holding many drivers back

from switching to EVs.

That's sending companies on a race

to improve the nation's charging network.

- It takes public fast charging to sell cars.

People need the confidence to know

that they're gonna be able to do that.

- [Narrator] But building this new fleet of chargers

won't be cheap.

- There's very much a chicken or the egg problem

because you'll put chargers in the ground

but there's just not demand.

- [Narrator] Here's how charging

became the EV industry's bottleneck

and what some companies are going

to try and fix it.

(dramatic music)

Charging is a surprisingly complex issue

for the EV industry.

One of the main challenges

is that in many cases, it takes too long

to fill up the battery of a car.

The most satisfied EV owners,

according to J.D. Power,

are able to charge at home over night.

That can be done with the regular plugs in your home

but charging this way can take days

to full up a standard range vehicle.

The industry calls this level one charging.

Homeowners can upgrade

to a level two charger

but that can cost thousands of dollars to install

in some cases.

Then there are drivers who can't charge at home at all,

like many who live in apartments

and rely on publicly available chargers.

The research says

that this network needs improvement.

As of 2021, the US has roughly 41,000

of the faster level two stations available

to the public.

The Department of Energy says

that by 2030, the US will need 600,000

of these machines to meet expected demand.

Private companies like Revel are stepping in

to try and get ahead of these issues

by installing even faster level three stations.

This is Revel's first super hub in Brooklyn New York.

It's stocked with a direct current power station

to service level three chargers.

The industry calls these DC-fast chargers.

Paul Suhey, the company's co-founder,

says that this site is the largest fast charging depot

in the Americas.

- New York City has a major problem

and the problem is charging infrastructure

just simply does not exist.

It is a challenge to find a studio apartment

in New York City,

let alone a charging site

where you're talking about skyscraper levels of power.

- [Narrator] Revel says that its fast charging plugs

can provide 100 miles of range in about 20 minutes.

The company believes that its fast chargers

could ease the anxiety of EV ownership

for city dwellers who typically have to pay

to enter a public parking garage

before paying again for their charge.

- There's no pay wall.

You can access a charger for free,

which is very unique in New York City.

The second thing is just a massive site.

We're talking 25 chargers in one location.

It's just a much better user experience.

- [Narrator] Revel isn't the only company focused

on fast charging.

DC-fast stations are the quickest growing segment

of the EV charging market.

Tesla pioneered this technology in the 2010s

with its Supercharger network,

which has more than 25,000 stations worldwide

but Tesla's system doesn't work with hardware

from other manufacturers

and that represents another problem with EV charging.

Many of the systems on the market are incompatible.

In the US, companies are designing cars

that use different types of charging plugs,

which is creating problems for people looking to fill up.

That's fairly different from the customer experience

at gas stations.

In most cases, the nozzle at the pump

will fit the car.

That won't necessarily be the case for EVs.

The industry is using a standard plug shape

for level one and level two chargers

but there are three different plug shapes in use

on the newer, faster chargers.

Experts say that aside from Tesla,

companies are moving toward the combined charging system,

or a CCS.

But for now, drivers might need

to carry dongles to make sure

that their car works

with the charging ports that they have find.

That's a problem that companies like EVgo want to solve.

- Jonathan Levy, the company's chief commercial officer

says that their technical team is working

to make their chargers compatible

with all EVs on the market.

- We're currently in a process

where we're installing hundreds

of integrated Tesla connectors

at EVgo fast chargers around the country

because they're more than half the EVs being sold right now

and while other automakers are bringing more models

to market and will continue to penetrate,

Tesla drivers and EVs using CHAdeMO

and EVs using CCS all need access to charging.

- [Narrator] The company plans

to have installed 600 Tesla connectors

across its fleet by the end of 2021.

But in the race to make these new, compatible,

fast charging machines,

the costs for companies and consumers are adding up.

Industry experts say that building out a bigger

and faster fleet of chargers

is going to cost a lot of money upfront

before consumer demand picks up.

Researchers say that an installation of a level two charger

could cost tens of thousands of dollars.

But costs for the newer DC-fast stations

could stretch into the millions of dollars.

To cover these costs, EVgo partnered

with a special purpose acquisition company

to quickly raise funds

but red tape is slowing down the build out of its fleet.

- Cities and counties have really been hurt a lot

on a budget basis across the country,

especially in COVID

and so if you have a part-time permitting authority,

that can really slow things down.

When we think about how long it takes

to build a fast charging station,

it's anywhere from six to 18 months

with exceptions on either side of it

and it could be a lot quicker

if we were able to again streamline some of this

and work on getting the flywheel spinning

in this ecosystem.

(lively music)

- [Narrator] Some lawmakers in Washington believe

that the industry needs help.

- In answer to your direct question, we have a deal.

- [Narrator] A bipartisan group,

including the president and many senators

are calling for $7.5 billion

to build a network of chargers along highways

and in rural areas.

But even if public funding materializes,

the EV charging companies

have to navigate other bottlenecks,

like regulatory approvals

while the development costs pile up.

That could leave some EV owners searching

for a place to plug in for some time.

(pensive music)