EV Infrastructure: A Guide to Navigating Complexity

Entering a new market is challenging, and the transportation-electrification space is no different. Even for industry veterans, it is daunting to identify and coordinate with partners to manage real estate considerations, negotiate ownership strategies and oversee technology procurement and permitting.

Transportation electrification’s goals are multifaceted and often pursued in parallel, including:

• Achievement of net zero/sustainability goals
• Compliance with increasingly stringent regulations
• Total cost of ownership reductions

The question becomes: can your organization dedicate the time, energy and expertise to integrate the various project facets, or is finding a trusted partner more cost-effective? Early market successes have shown that a single integrated-solutions provider will better achieve goals than a disaggregated strategy, while also setting the stage for long-term success.

But what project elements are actually required for integration? The following sections identify best practices across the most important aspects of EV charging projects:

• Utility access and site management
• Equipment selection and supply
• Incentives and regulation
• Operations and maintenance

These disparate yet related project elements can sidetrack or derail even the smallest EV infrastructure projects and are best addressed via integrated project management. By sequencing tasks and allocating resources in the most efficient manner possible, a company will electrify a fleet sooner and realize the benefits earlier.

The inability to synchronize and manage project elements and partners leads to delays, cancellations, malfunctions and increased costs. As the EV industry expands, a deepening pool of lessons learned will mitigate the challenges associated with EV infrastructure implementation. Though the following best practices are organized sequentially by importance, they are not stand-alone efforts—real estate, technology, operations, maintenance and financial considerations must be managed along parallel paths, adding to the complexity of EV infrastructure management.

Utility engagement: Early, often, and throughout

The critical first step to any EV infrastructure project is to engage the relevant utility provider to ensure they can meet project goals. EV infrastructure projects often require a new service from the utility to support the installation of EV charging equipment, especially when implementing direct-current fast-charging (DCFC) stations.

Working with a utility can be challenging. With more than 3,000 providers across the U.S., utilities lack uniformity in how they address transportation electrification requests. Utilities facing particularly high demands for new power generation may have substantial backlogs, creating multiple-year delays for new EV infrastructure projects. Early engagement and close relationships with a utility can greatly expedite timelines.

Location analytics: A vision for efficient site management

Using analytics and forecasting models, site hosts can now develop deep insights on suitability, which helps to anticipate future performance metrics. The combination of geo-spatial methods and analysis provide a competitive advantage, yielding more informed location strategies and EV charging decisions.

As with any infrastructure upgrade effort, understanding the space and resources available is essential to successful deployment of the technology. EV charging stations require the use of physical space on the site host’s property.

Despite the smaller and more flexible footprint, the placement of EV charging equipment requires careful consideration of certain factors:

• Proximity to power source and parking considerations
• Charger quantity and mix
• Impact of construction on operations
• Ease of access for operations maintenance

Site planning: Managing the proximity to infrastructure

Collaborative site management practices yield predictable electric loads, costs and operations. Costs can escalate if there is not sufficient room near the existing power supply for the infrastructure installation. Charging stations should be placed near electrical access while minimizing disruptions to hardscaping such as concrete. A full-service real estate provider experienced in site design and coordinating the supply of electric power to buildings can reduce this barrier to entry and better manage costs.

The parking configuration is particularly important in a fleet environment. Coordination is required between the charger placement and the vehicle connection port, as well as an assessment of a vehicle’s turn radius and parking method (i.e., nose-in, back-in, or pull-through). Designing these projects is more complex than the common parking lot or gas station and requires the knowledge and expertise of a project manager who can manage competing interests in the same parking lot.

The diagrams below show two examples of EV infrastructure installations, where the layouts differ according to the demands of the EVs’ operational profiles. Figure 2 shows the EV charging infrastructure housed within the equipment area with power distributed to chargers that serve individual parking spaces on either side of a central island. This scenario is ideal for school bus operations that allow for longer charging times (referred to as “dwell times”), have sufficient geographic space for dedicated EV charging, and enough power supply to charge multiple vehicles simultaneously without affecting operations.

Figure 2: Charging Station Locations –Mass charging with longer dwell times

Figure 3 shows a pull-through, fueling lane-style deployment, which provides energy at higher rates of power over shorter periods of time, though that power is available to fewer vehicles simultaneously. This is a viable solution for transit fleets or local goods delivery operations that have short dwell times and high energy demands during their operation, or for operations that don’t have a suitable geographic footprint for charging multiple vehicles simultaneously.

Figure 3: Charging Station Locations – Pull-through parking for shorter charging times at faster rates

Technology selection: Right-sizing the site

Analyzing fleet operations and vehicles can help to determine how many and what level of chargers are needed. Fleet telematics can provide valuable insights on vehicle routes, fuel use data, hours of operation and parking durations. This data can predict how an EV would perform in this use case. For example, mileage data can predict the electric range required for a vehicle to complete its route. Fuel usage can be analyzed to set the expectations of fleet managers regarding the vehicles’ state of charge (SOC) upon completion of route. Analyzing dwell times can determine the level of charging needed to replenish the range during the charging window between shifts.

Using this information, EV charging partners can determine the two critical data points required for successful fleet electrification:

• Total energy needed by the EV
• Time available for charging

These two factors determine each vehicle’s required necessary power output to ensure sufficient charging during the available dwell times for the vehicles, as well as the total number of chargers needed to maintain the whole fleet. If this is done effectively, a fleet can reach cost parity with electric vehicles sooner.

Figure 4: Faster Isn’t Always Better - The Benefits of Slower Charging Times

For commercial enterprises with publicly-accessible charging, EV infrastructure requires a different approach. As experts in the EV industry understand, limited data exists to predict the ideal quantity and variety of charging stations. The data that does exist today is constantly changing due to this market’s rapid growth.

Seasoned analysts can determine the level of service by considering the volume and turnover of vehicles at the location, as well as the proximity to existing public charging infrastructure. In addition to evaluating today’s need for EV charging, it is imperative to develop future plans to accommodate growing demand. These plans most often include the installation of wiring, designing access/egress and parking areas, and making phased construction schedules to best address charger installations that will be deployed in stages over the coming years. These forward-looking plans must be coordinated across a comprehensive set of skills (e.g., real estate, engineering, project management and operations). Best practices have shown that integrated solutions providers can ensure that all of these challenges are solved concurrently.

Funding and incentives: Lower the cost of entry

A new era in incentives was ushered in via funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), considered to be the U.S. government's largest-ever investment in climate action. These efforts are anchored by the $5 billion National Electric Vehicle Initiation (NEVI) Program and the $2.5 billion Charge and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) Program, which will help build out critical EV infrastructure corridors across the U.S. Utilities are getting in on the action too, committing millions of dollars to incentivize EV infrastructure projects while also facilitating this early market through demonstration deployments. Utility incentives—commonly referred to as make-ready programs—ensure that fleets and facilities are provided with sufficient power and the requisite technologies are available on site and on time.

These funds will continue to be allocated for years to come, though it’s not just a simple cash grab: Applicants must be prepared to navigate eligibility and operational requirements, as well as the potential contractual obligations associated with monitoring and reporting. So how do companies find the right opportunity to pursue? Because these funds are competitive and are spent quickly, the potential for success will depend on technical expertise, agility, speed to market and ability to quickly execute on a well-defined strategy.

Regulatory management: Implement compliance strategies

While funding “carrots” incentivize market activity, regulatory drivers have become the clean transportation market’s “sticks.” Notable federal action of late includes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s draft of a heavy-duty engine rule in late 2022 that sets the strictest-ever national standards on emissions that contribute to air pollution. That action comes in parallel with California’s zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) regulations, particularly the Advanced Clean Fleet (ACF) rule and the California Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) rule.

ACF will require that large fleet owners purchase and operate ZEVs in steadily increasing amounts as a percentage of their fleet size until reaching 100% between 2035 and 2042 (final compliance date varies by application). Alternatively, ACT requires original equipment manufacturers to rapidly increase the sale of ZE trucks and buses over the next two decades. These regulatory drivers do not just apply to California. Seventeen states and the District of Columbia have signed a memorandum of understanding that establishes a goal of 100% ZEV sales for medium-duty and heavy-duty vehicles by 2050, and many states have also started their own efforts to implement ACF and ACT regulations.

Fleet owners, operators and site hosts need a trusted partner to help discern these various regulatory requirements, avoiding painful financial penalties and keeping businesses in good standing.

Ongoing operations and maintenance: Groundwork for long-term success

Ongoing operations and maintenance plans are critical to mitigating the risk of charger downtime and equipment failures. Unlike traditional fueling infrastructure, a single-point outage can significantly impact operations because charging stations are typically deployed at individual parking spaces. Failure points for chargers can come from a number of places: the charging unit itself, network management system, in-ground infrastructure or the electric utility provider. As the cause of an outage is often hard to identify, it is critical that fleets implement a proactive and predictive maintenance and operations plan.

Integrating equipment with maintenance is a valuable best practice that will optimize operation of the EV charging station to maximize uptime and reliability. Maintenance and upkeep of any charging station network is a critical consideration for the long-term effectiveness of any electrification project. The business case often pencils out only when uptime of chargers is maximized. One of the best methods to managing all the operations of charger maintenance is through a service level agreement (SLA), which should be agreed upon prior to making a purchase decision and ideally in partnership with an integrated solutions provider.

Managing warranties and proactive communications regarding failures and outages will also yield success. A management system software enables the operator to track the real-time health of their entire charging network, allowing operators to respond to failures as they occur and aid in the identification of the failure’s point of origin, thus significantly reducing the downtime of the unit.

Failure risk can also be mitigated through resiliency and redundancy, which can be done using various strategies.

The first method is charger diversification. For example, a local goods delivery fleet may regularly use dedicated Level 2 chargers to recharge their vehicles; however, as a resiliency method, they could also install multiple DC fast chargers to provide faster recharge times and get vehicles back into operation quicker, should outages occur with a Level 2 charger or in the case of immediate delivery needs.

An alternative method, particularly for medium-and heavy-duty fleet operations, is installation of chargers with a higher kW output than the minimum standard necessary for operations. For example, a fleet that requires an average of 50kWh during their available charging time would only need a standard 60kW maximum output charger. To provide resiliency, the fleet could invest in a bank of chargers capable of 120kW to enable the fleet to rotate vehicles through a single higher power charger in the event of an outage with one of the lower power units.

To address redundancy, the use of redundant power generation, such as renewable energy resources with battery storage systems, is a best practice capable of mitigating risks for mission-critical infrastructure.

Another way to build in redundancy is by installing more chargers than are currently needed for the electric fleet. Most fleets electrify in stages: There may not be enough power available right away, or they are introducing EVs into their fleet as they retire fossil fuel-powered vehicles over a number of years. By deploying EV chargers at a faster rate than the addition of EVs to the fleet, critical redundancy is built into the charging infrastructure. As the fleet continued to electrify, and as the operator becomes more experienced with operating an electric fleet and has a better understanding of usage profiles, the share of redundant chargers can be reduced.

These best practices are just the beginning. There are no simple solutions, but an integrated approach will simplify and accelerate the path to electrification. Establishing a partnership with a trusted provider can establish cost-effective and efficient pathways to adopting new technologies, modifying operations and creating viable space for the required infrastructure that will allow us to usher in a zero-emission future.

From grid integration to battery chemistry to lightweight materials, innovation has served as the core of our transportation-electrification future. And as the adoption of EVs continues to rise, we must recognize that a proven adage rings true here: Those who fail to learn from the past are doomed to repeat it. This is borne out by the early adopters’ experiences with challenges associated with EV charging infrastructure: Utility engagement, location analytics, real estate and site planning, technology availability and operations and maintenance are the leading culprits.

The transportation-electrification market is swiftly evolving, accelerated by government-led green initiatives and increased demand and supply of EVs. To successfully navigate this evolution, business leaders should pursue a fully integrated approach with superior project management and coordination. Real estate advisory capabilities, location analytics software and world-class end-to-end program management are nearly as critical to transportation-electrification projects as the EVs and chargers themselves.