As the auto industry grapples with soft sales of electric vehicles, rising interest rates and persistent inflation, and wondering what the tipping point might be to get reluctant buyers take the plunge on an EV, the EU and a consortium of seven automakers plan to ratchet up the availability of fast chargers in Europe and the U.S., respectively.

The U.S. Plan

The new joint venture includes BMW Group, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz and Stellantis NV, which plans to install 30,000 fast-charger connectors across the U.S. and Canada. The first chargers are expected to go into operation in the summer of 2024.

“We intend to exceed customer expectations by creating more opportunities for a seamless charging experience given the significant growth expected in the market,” Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares says in a joint statement with GM CEO Mary Barra. The better experience people have, the faster EV adoption will grow.”

The U.S. Department of Energy says there are approximately 32,000 public and network (i.e., Tesla) fast chargers in the U.S. Recently, Ford, which has not joined the consortium, recently made a deal with Tesla that allows Ford customers to access Tesla’s fast-charging network. GM followed Ford with a similar deal.

There are 164,000 gas stations in the U.S. With continued build-out of chargers by Tesla and networks like ChargePoint and EVgo, plus efforts by OEMs and public utilities and local and state governments – with supporting funding coming from the federal government by way of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act – there could be 100,000 fast chargers in the U.S. by 2030 or earlier. At that rate, gas stations will still outnumber chargers because gas stations have multiple pumps.

Such efforts to quickly grow fast-charger availability are seen as necessary to give consumers reluctant to buy an EV more confidence and to diminish range anxiety. A recent survey conducted by global consulting firm EY reports that over half (51%) of U.S. consumers are more worried about finding a charging station in nonresidential facilities than expensive charging costs.

Automakers have years of learning on this. In Japan, for example, automakers found that test fleets of EVs sat at consumers homes until urban public chargers were set up despite the fact that the range of the vehicles far exceeded their daily driving miles.

Even if they are up and running, out-of-home chargers, except for Tesla’s, have proved to have reliability issues. A study released in 2022 by the University of California-Berkeley found that about one-quarter of the public chargers in the San Francisco Bay area were out of order at any given moment.

A portion of the charging stations to come out of the consortium will be located at highway stops that offer amenities and conveniences.

Profits Under Pressure

Solving the access and range anxiety issues as quickly as possible is seen as key to the industry not only fulfilling government mandates but also returning revenue and profit on the enormous investments the industry is making in electrification. GM and Ford have told Wall Street, for example, that they will realize no profits from EVs through 2025. And Wall Street is skeptical of that target.

The consortium’s fast-charger plans have everything to do with trying to make their vehicles profitable as soon as possible.

Automakers are discounting EV prices to clear excess inventories because consumers are delaying purchases of new cars, and specifically EVs. Inflation and rising interest rates are one factor. EV resistance is another.

And then there is a percentage of buyers who are politically against buying an EV, as well as a percentage of buyers who are going to put off consideration until government mandates leave them no choice. It also is hurting automakers that only a few EV midsize or large SUVs (two of the most popular segments) are on sale. In short, there are a lot of deterrents to buying an EV today.

The EU Hitting Fast-Charging Accelerator, Too

A new law in the EU will allow EV owners in Europe to travel across the international bloc of countries with complete coverage, allowing them to conveniently pay for recharging vehicles without apps or required subscriptions by 2030.

EU countries this week agreed on the new law, which will mandate and help fund the building of additional EV fast chargers, as well as more refueling stations for alternative fuels, such as hydrogen, along the main highways across the EU.

Specifics:

• The EU must meet targets by the end of 2025 and 2030, including the building of fast-charging stations of at least 150 kW for cars and vans every 60 km (37 mi) along the EU’s main transport corridors – what’s known as the trans-European transport (TEN-T) network. The introduction of these stations will start “from 2025 onwards,” according to the EU.
• Mandates that charging stations along the TEN-T “core” road network — the most important roads linking major cities— should be capable of at least 400 kW of total output by Dec. 31, 2025. This regulation includes having at least one charging point capable of an individual output of at least 150 kW.
• By Dec. 31, 2027, the regulation requires at least 600 kW of total output at each charging station and the same individual charging point requirement of at least 150 kW.
• The law calls for 50% of the TEN-T road network to be compliant by 2027, but 100% compliant by 2030.
• Drivers must be able to use the charging network with ad-hoc payment means such as credit cards and contactless payment, such as Apple Pay, rather than requiring specific apps and subscriptions. Prices for charging must be clearly posted similar to the way gas/ diesel prices are posted at ICE vehicle refueling stations. Information such as price and wait times must be available through electronic means, such as an app.

The new EU regulation is part of the “Fit for 55” packages of regulations and incentives drafted to facilitate reaching the bloc’s goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 55% (compared with 1990 levels) by 2035 and, ideally, reach climate neutrality by 2050.

“The new law is a milestone of our ‘Fit for 55’ policy providing for more public recharging capacity on the streets in cities and along the motorways across Europe,” says Raquel Sánchez Jiménez, Spanish Minister of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda.

The post Why Automakers, EU Are Transferring Quicker on Quick Charging appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

News

From Jorge Fitz Gibbon

04/26/2023 | 7:25 p.m

San Francisco prosecutors made an abrupt about-face on Wednesday and said they would now charge a tramp who hit a former fire commissioner with a crowbar – after The Post revealed they were quietly trying to drop the case.

The district attorney’s new rotation comes a day after prosecutors reportedly ruled that interim Garrett Doty acted in self-defense when he fractured former Commissioner Don Carmignani’s skull on April 5, telling him they were dropping the charges .

After Carmignani commented on the decision and released a new video showing the attack, they quickly backed down.

“We have not dismissed the charges in this case,” San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said in a statement.

“Holding violent criminals accountable is a top priority for our office to protect public safety,” Jenkins added. “Following the arrest of Garrett Allen Doty in connection with an attack on Don Carmignani on April 5, 2023, we filed multiple criminal charges against Doty and attempted to hold him for violent crimes.”

A day earlier, Carmignani said he had been informed the charges should be dropped because prosecutors said he instigated the attack by using pepper spray on the homeless man he was about to take away from outside his mother’s home .

Prosecutors said they had prepared a preliminary hearing in the case to give Carmignani a chance to make a statement on Wednesday – before postponing it to Thursday.

Former San Francisco Fire Department Commissioner Don Carmignani, 52, was beaten with a crowbar by a passerby on April 5. City prosecutors tried to quietly drop the charges against suspect Garrett Doty until The Post exposed the ploy.CBS News

“At our request, the court has continued this case for a hearing until tomorrow,” the prosecutor’s statement said. “We summoned [Carmignani] to appear tomorrow by his advice. The defender [Doty] remains in custody.”

Jenkins claimed that Carmignani “did not give an interview on this case, despite repeated requests from the San Francisco Police Department,” although Carmignani’s attorneys claimed the opposite was the case and that authorities have not contacted him since the attack to offer his perspective to experience.

“We hope he is available to testify in court as he now recalls giving an on camera media interview about the attack,” Jenkins said in the statement.

Footage shows Doty pulling back to hit Carmignani with a metal bar.Colla & Ray LLP

Carmignani, 53, has admitted he reached out to Doty after the city neglected his mother’s calls to 911 to ask for help – she had seen three people using drugs and harassing neighbors in their entryway.

Joe Alioto-Veronese, a prominent attorney and friend, said when Carmignani asked them to move, he was hit in the back of the head by Doty, injuring the ex-smoker’s skull and brain.

The video shows Doty swinging the metal bar, pinning a heavily bleeding Carmignani against the wall of a gas station shop, punching Carmignani and chasing him down the street. Doty, 24, was later arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon.

The former fire chief sustained head and brain injuries in the attack.Colla & Ray LLP

“[Doty] was actually seen blowing the whistle and walking around the neighborhood after the attack,” Alioto-Veronese said.

Dotty’s public defender, Kleigh Hathaway, is calling for the charges against her client to be dropped and made shocking allegations against the former fire chief to ABC News.

“Police have reason to believe that Carmignani was involved in eight separate acts of violence … perpetrated against the homeless,” she told the network, without elaborating.

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Gas prices at Schlafer’s Auto Body & Repair in the tiny town of Mendocino in Mendocino County on March 8. [Photo from Galen Bach cropped and contrasted]

The seaside town of Mendocino has a single gas station called Schlafer’s Auto Body & Repair. Yesterday, coastal resident Galen Bach took a picture of the gas pump and thought it worthy of posting on social media. For a regular price of gasoline, a customer of Schlafer’s would pay $8.45, which is just shy of double the national average of $4.25, and 42% more expensive than the average gallon of gas in California.

Patrick De Haan, the Head of GasBuddy.com’s Petroleum analysis team, told us that the price per gallon at Schlafer’s has “a very strong likelihood that this is the most expensive station in America.” De Haan reviewed GasBuddy’s records of current gas prices across the United States, and he told us, “I can’t find any more expensive at the present moment.”

Last summer Schlafer’s made national news for officially being considered the most expensive fuel in the country, at that point charging $6.73 for a gallon of gas. Owner Judith Schlafer told SF Gate’s Freda Moon after she learned their station was currently the most expensive in the country, “It has to be that way, or I’d be out of business.”

Galen Bach, according to him the “best chimney sweep ever”, told us he had to raise his service prices across the board on the coast. He is paying more for parts, gas, and the general cost of living. He remembered buying six bags of groceries recently at Mendocino’s Harvest Market and paying $455.

Currently, the North Coast of California has one of the most expensive gasoline markets, as per AAA’s County Gas Prices map.

The map provides a county-by-county breakdown of the average cost of a gallon of gas. Coming in the first place on the North Coast is Humboldt County at $5.70, second Del Norte at $5.64, third is Sonoma at $5.57, fourth is Trinity at $5.41, the fifth is Lake at $5.43, and coming in sixth for the cheapest gas currently on the North Coast is Mendocino County at $5.35. Worth noting, it looks like Mono County, east of the Sierra Nevada mountains has the state’s highest gas prices at $6.02.

It was just yesterday that California’s average gas price crept above $5 per gallon for the first time in history. DeHaan told the SFGATE yesterday that he could see California’s average gallon of gas costing $6 and a growing number of gas stations charging $8 or more.

This dramatic rise in gas prices is the result of a multitude of forces converging including the deliberate dialing back of domestic oil production in 2019, sanctions against Iran and Venezuela decreasing worldwide supply, the pandemic’s heightened demand for petroleum-based products such as medical plastics, the recent sanctions levied against Russia, and finally a number of taxes specific to the state of California.

Bach told us that when he posted the photograph of gas prices in Mendocino, a heated political debate erupted on his Facebook profile with many Trump voters blaming Biden for the gas prices.

Putting aside politics, the dramatic rise in gas prices has got this father of three thinking about money in a completely different light. With these prices, Bach said, “I have three kids I’m raising. It’s not easy at all.”

UPDATE: And today the price went up at Schlafer’s Auto Body & Repair…

The post Mendocino Coast Gasoline Station Is the ‘Most Costly in America’ Charging $8.45 Per Gallon appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

A study released earlier this week showed that over 27% of all EV charging stations in the San Francisco Bay area are non-functioning. Failures are manifold, and the shortcomings many.

22.7% of connectors had unresponsive or unavailable screens, payment system failures, charge initiation failures, network failures, or broken connectors; another 4.9% of chargers had cables too short to reach the car charging port.

In turn, this means 77.3% of chargers were working. Still, this is far from the CPOs’ claims that 95- 98% of the network was in well-working order, so the study’s initiators.

The survey ‘Reliability of Open Public Electric Vehicle Direct Current Fast Chargers’ was headed by UC Berkeley bioengineering professor David Rempel and the environmental non-profit group Cool the Earth. They tested the functionality of 657 charging connectors at all 181 public charging stations in the Bay area, Tesla chargers excluded.

The testers were also not alone in their findings. A CARB survey published in February found that 44% of electric vehicle drivers have experienced issues at charging stations and considered operability and payment major issues to charging.

californiaglobe.com, arxiv.org (PDF), arb.ca.gov (CARB survey)

The post Virtually 1/3 of San Francisco charging stations are duds appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Gas prices at Schlafer’s Auto Body & Repair in the tiny town of Mendocino in Mendocino County on March 8. [Photo from Galen Bach cropped and contrasted]

The seaside town of Mendocino has a single gas station called Schlafer’s Auto Body & Repair. Yesterday, coastal resident Galen Bach took a picture of the gas pump and thought it worthy of posting on social media. For a regular price of gasoline, a customer of Schlafer’s would pay $8.45, which is just shy of double the national average of $4.25, and 42% more expensive than the average gallon of gas in California.

Patrick De Haan, the Head of GasBuddy.com’s Petroleum analysis team, told us that the price per gallon at Schlafer’s has “a very strong likelihood that this is the most expensive station in America.” De Haan reviewed GasBuddy’s records of current gas prices across the United States, and he told us, “I can’t find any more expensive at the present moment.”

Last summer Schlafer’s made national news for officially being considered the most expensive fuel in the country, at that point charging $6.73 for a gallon of gas. Owner Judith Schlafer told SF Gate’s Freda Moon after she learned their station was currently the most expensive in the country, “It has to be that way, or I’d be out of business.”

Galen Bach, according to him the “best chimney sweep ever”, told us he had to raise his service prices across the board on the coast. He is paying more for parts, gas, and the general cost of living. He remembered buying six bags of groceries recently at Mendocino’s Harvest Market and paying $455.

Currently, the North Coast of California has one of the most expensive gasoline markets, as per AAA’s County Gas Prices map.

The map provides a county-by-county breakdown of the average cost of a gallon of gas. Coming in the first place on the North Coast is Humboldt County at $5.70, second Del Norte at $5.64, third is Sonoma at $5.57, fourth is Trinity at $5.41, the fifth is Lake at $5.43, and coming in sixth for the cheapest gas currently on the North Coast is Mendocino County at $5.35. Worth noting, it looks like Mono County, east of the Sierra Nevada mountains has the state’s highest gas prices at $6.02.

It was just yesterday that California’s average gas price crept above $5 per gallon for the first time in history. DeHaan told the SFGATE yesterday that he could see California’s average gallon of gas costing $6 and a growing number of gas stations charging $8 or more.

This dramatic rise in gas prices is the result of a multitude of forces converging including the deliberate dialing back of domestic oil production in 2019, sanctions against Iran and Venezuela decreasing worldwide supply, the pandemic’s heightened demand for petroleum-based products such as medical plastics, the recent sanctions levied against Russia, and finally a number of taxes specific to the state of California.

Bach told us that when he posted the photograph of gas prices in Mendocino, a heated political debate erupted on his Facebook profile with many Trump voters blaming Biden for the gas prices.

Putting aside politics, the dramatic rise in gas prices has got this father of three thinking about money in a completely different light. With these prices, Bach said, “I have three kids I’m raising. It’s not easy at all.”

The post Mendocino Coast Fuel Station Is the ‘Most Costly in America’ Charging $8.45 Per Gallon – Redheaded Blackbelt appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

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The post Burlingame Begins Charging Companies to Hold Parklet Eating Areas – CBS San Francisco appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

BURLINGAME (KPIX) – The City of Burlingame is moving forward with a plan to introduce a fee structure for businesses wishing to continue operating parklets.

Beginning April 1, businesses wishing to keep parklets must pay the city a $1,500 annual rental fee and a $250 monthly cleaning fee. Overall, a Parklet would cost a company about $4,500.

“We set up the parklets as an emergency measure to give businesses some relief during the pandemic,” Mayor Ricardo Ortiz said. “It was an emergency measure. Now we are aiming for a more permanent agreement.”

However, some business owners tell KPIX that they need to stop using their parklets as it would cost too much.

“After this decision was made by the city council, we checked our budget and our numbers – we really couldn’t afford it,” said Kemal Polat of Il Piccolo Caffe. “That’s about $4,500 a year. It was a lot for us. Still we fight. Our business is not like it was before COVID. We had to make the decision to give up the Parklet.”

John Kevranian, the president of the Broadway Burlingame Business Improvement District, tells KPIX that he and the business owners have no problem with the $1,500 rental fee but disagree with the $250 cleaning fee. He estimates that four out of seven companies using parklets on Broadway will eventually dismantle them.

In a letter to the city council, Kevranian wrote:

“Some of you may perceive and feel that our restaurants are doing very well. Well the bottom line is they are not doing the business they were in before COVID. Staff shortages, increased product costs and supply chain issues have impacted profits. Also, I would like to remind you all that the majority of commercial landlords have not discounted rent for the past 22 months during the pandemic.

“This year, increases in the minimum wage, hikes in sewage fees, additional costs for composting, new regulations for food-to-go containers in March 2022 and other cost increases in the food industry will take some of the profits away from our restaurants. Not to mention COVID issues and less indoor dining.

“The $250 cleaning fee has to come from somewhere, e.g. B. by reducing the working hours of workers or increasing prices for customers. The cost of chicken has tripled and the cost of beef and other products has skyrocketed. How much can you raise with a customer?”

The mayor says the city wants to make sure businesses are actually using the parklets, which are taking up valuable parking spaces. He also claims that maintaining parklets requires the use of city services and the city cannot continue to pay for those services.

“We’ve had complaints from many local merchants that the restaurants are taking up parking spaces that their customers would normally use,” Ortiz said. “The cleaning fee simply covers the city’s cost of cleaning these parklets. Same idea if you use city services we should be compensated. We should not offer people free city services so that they can benefit financially.”

Polat says he is in a difficult position. He felt it was too expensive to pay for a parklet with the new rates, but he fears demolition could also hurt his business.

“Losing this parklet – it’s going to affect my business more in the future because people come in and they see they don’t have parklet, they don’t see outdoor seating and they’re probably going to go somewhere else,” he said.

The post Burlingame to Start Charging Companies That Hold Parklets – CBS San Francisco appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

January 12, 2022

by Christopher Carey

San Francisco Mayor London Breed has announced plans to update legislation to speed up the creation of new electric vehicle (EV) charging stations across the city.

Changes to the city’s planning code mean gas stations and parking lots could be converted into electric vehicle charging stations. The processes of the planning department would also be accelerated.

In particular, the legislation adds a definition of ‘electric vehicle charging station’ to the ‘vehicle retail’ land use category and specifies where this new use is permitted.

Mayor Breed said: “Putting the city on the path to a healthier, cleaner and fairer future will require significant investment to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. As we look to transition to electric vehicles and eliminate emissions from our transport sector, we need to update the planning code to facilitate the opening of standalone charging stations.”

Goals for 2040

According to a 2021 study by the International Council on Clean Transportation, San Francisco needs to increase the current number of public charging stations from 1,016 to 2,000 by 2025.

Electric vehicles currently account for about 11 percent of new registrations in San Francisco — one of the highest in the US — but the city wants that number to be 100 percent by 2040.

Expanding access to affordable and convenient charging will be key to this goal, especially for low-income households and tenants who do not have access to charging at home.

Nearly 70 percent of city dwellers live in apartment buildings, and most don’t have access to off-street or home parking.

For these residents, fear of public charging is a major barrier to EV adoption and this legislation seeks to address that challenge.

“Public electric vehicle charging stations are essential to ensure widespread and equitable access to electric vehicles throughout San Francisco,” said Rafael Mandelman, chairman of the San Francisco County Transportation Authority.

“The federal infrastructure law earmarks at least $384 million for EV charging in California, and we must be prepared to leverage that investment locally. This regulation will lay the groundwork and remove regulatory barriers to EV charging citywide.”

Proposed legislation is heard by the Planning Commission before being presented to the full Board of Directors.

Image: Noya Fields (Flickr)

The post San Francisco to speed up EV charging with new laws appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

SAN JOSE (CBS SF) – The new building in unincorporated Santa Clara County must have all-electric heaters and appliances, as well as connections for charging electric vehicles, according to a new ordinance passed by regulators on Tuesday.

The ordinance to reduce greenhouse gas emissions prohibits natural gas connections in new buildings and calls for the use of electricity for “water heating, space heating, cooking, drying clothes, indoor and outdoor fireplaces as well as decorative devices”. New homes must also have cabling for the installation of battery storage systems.

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For residential and non-residential high-rise buildings as well as hotels and motels, the measure also requires the installation of solar power.

When charging electric vehicles, the requirements vary depending on the size of the building. Single-family houses and townhouses require at least two electric vehicle sockets. Today, larger non-residential projects require high-capacity charging systems and dedicated parking spaces for charging.

According to district officials, the measure goes beyond state requirements that encourage all-electric construction.

Supervisor Otto Lee said in a statement: “This is clearly in line with our climate protection plan and will help us achieve our goal of being 100% CO2 neutral by 2045.”

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In addition to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, officials claim that all-electric designs are generally less expensive because they don’t require natural gas lines, meters, and vents.

Jasneet Sharma, director of the district’s sustainability bureau, touted building electrification and the use of electric vehicles as a cost-effective, low-risk way of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

“That means improved indoor air quality and safety for our residents, fewer gas-powered vehicles on our roads and fewer pollutants in the atmosphere,” said Sharma.

Some exceptions apply, including hospitals and correctional facilities and buildings where all-electric devices are “not feasible”. Also excluded are certain accessory apartments (ADU) that are completely contained in a single-family house that is already piped for natural gas.

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The regulation comes into force in February.

The post Santa Clara County Supes Require All-Electrical Home equipment, EV Charging Hookups In Push For Inexperienced Building – CBS San Francisco appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.