Since the passing of the infrastructure law last year, states have been preparing to use the federal funding they will receive to expand charging infrastructure for EVs. To get the funding, each state had to come up with plans about how they would spend the money, then have the plans approved by the Federal Department of Transportation.
What the FBI Wanted
Fortunately, the federal DOT doesn’t expect state DOTs to fire in the dark and hopes to get approval. They told everyone what the expectations were, starting with the need to cover all highways with:
- Gaps of no more than 50 miles between chargers and chargers within one mile of the highway.
- Minimum of four chargers of 150 kW or higher, with CCS connectors.
- Ability to charge four vehicles at the same time at that rate or more.
Exceptions are possible for each of these rules on a case-by-case basis (electricity unavailability, etc.), but funding can be used to prepare a site for stations by adding power generation capacity, etc. So even if you’re in If you’re in the middle of nowhere and can’t get power on a stretch of road, some of the money could be used to build a solar charging station.
After the highways are covered or granted exemptions, the state can work to build charging stations on other highways and in other parts of the state (including urban charging stations). There are some rules for that, but they’re pretty flexible unless a state drops the ball completely (in which case the federal DOT just does).
The Texas Highway Charging Plan
unlike Arizona and New Mexico (other states I’ve covered in the infrastructure law implementation process), Texas has some very specific plans right now that it’s already solicited a lot of public input on. You can download the full PDF here†
Some of the high-level goals of the state include:
- Support for 1 million EVs in Texas
- Fast charging stations no more than 80 kilometers apart on highways
- Fast charging stations no more than 70 miles apart elsewhere in Texas
- Multiple options for routes and charging on all trips
- At least four plugs in pull-through areas for persons towing trailers (this is a big problem!†
- Locations known in multiple third-party applications (so people can find stations and plan trips)
Curious what this looks like on a map? Texas provided that information! Here’s a map of rough locations they want for highway charging:
As you can probably see, they have already included existing Electrify America stations in their plan. This is great because it puts them half way there and there’s a lot less work left for these corridors to be easier to use for EVs. It also means there’s money left over for other charging stations (we’ll get to that in a moment).
When it comes to roads I’ve driven around Texas, the plan looks very reasonable and seems to have taken up the terrain, especially around El Paso (where there’s a lot more terrain to consider than the rest of the state). Looking elsewhere in the document they gave some latitudes and longitudes for these points, so I decided to see how specific they were or if they just had a city in mind.
The document does say, “Lat/Long provided for reference, not a specific site. NEAR (mi) is the geodesic longitude to the next DC location on the corridor.” so obviously they don’t have a specific host company in mind.
The answer in the case of Fort Hancock, Texas, is that they have picked a freeway exit that they want close by. But this is good because it gives us an idea of what went into finding the station, and it was actually a little thought out. Fort Hancock is, in fact, the last chance for a very steep climb exiting the Rio Grande Valley, making it possible for even shorter-range EVs to make the journey across Texas, even with a trailer.
So if you have a business near any of the points on the map, contact DOT and ask for a station.
The plan encompasses much more than highways, but they plan to do so in the years after highway stations are installed. The map is dotted with dots, just as it should be.
The plan appears to be to give every county at least one station in the county seat so that after 5 years, travel can be made along state, U.S. and interstate highways in the state.
More about charging through
I wanted to know more about their thinking about extending and the concept plan included:
“Each DC Fast Charge station on the alternative fuel corridors or near county seats may have at least one pull-through space for light vehicles towing trailers or RV RVs when space is available at the host location. Locations do not include areas for heavy trucks or trailers. Cargo loading will be addressed pending guidance from FHWA in the fall of 2022. Light trucks or vans can use pull-through areas if they can safely navigate the site.
Not only is this a good thing, but it’s also very ‘Texas’. People pull trailers in Texas, so you have to make it so that people can pull trailers in Texas. I’m glad they thought about this and made it part of their plan.
Some minor flaws
While I’m very impressed, I think there are some flaws in the plan that need to be addressed in some way, perhaps through private companies. Realistically, the infrastructure bill will put us way ahead of where we are now, but won’t cover a full EV transition. There will still be much work to be done.
That said, I think far west Texas is getting a bit of the shaft here (as usual). By “the far west of Texas” I’m mainly talking about El Paso and the nearby counties. It’s been common over the years for Texas to disregard El Paso, probably because they keep voting for the minority (Democrats) party, who then just never have the political clout to ask for things in Austin.
Every small square county of 500 people got a charging station in the plan, but the big counties like Hudspeth only got one (Culberson got zero new stations), despite multiple highway corridors running through it. In particular, US 62-180, or the “National Parks Highway” that goes from El Paso to Carlsbad, New Mexico, was completely ignored in the plan. I think this was a big mistake, because along that road is both Guadalupe Mountains National Park and Carlsbad Caverns National Park (the latter just over the state line). It’s a lonely, barren stretch, but it’s important for tourism and for traveling through ‘oil country’.
Another national park that was left out was Big Bend. Marfa, Alpine and Fort Davis would all get a station, which is great, but we’re talking a 240 mile round trip from Alpine to that park, not counting the driving around the park. With highway speeds in Texas (75 mph on that kind of highway) and the need for RVs to tow, in many cases, Big Bend will be just for gasoline cars and people will get stuck there. There is an RV park there with hookups, so level 2 charging is possible, but the park really needs a DC fast charger.
Those shortcomings aside, it’s actually a pretty decent plan.
Featured Image: Screenshot of the TXDOT Draft EV Charging Plan.
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