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I recommended that the parking manager put them in


his valet area (as they have done successfully in Minneapo- lis) and then require that people who wanted to charge had to valet. (He said they didn’t have valet but had been con- sidering it, and adding the charging stations there was a great idea.) They would, by definition, pay more for the parking service and he could take on a surcharge for the charging service. Herein lies the problem. This manager told me he had received complaints from


customers because they couldn’t charge, even though charg- ing stations were located at the airport. So what was at first thought to be a great PR coup became a PR problem. (That law of unintended consequences had not been repealed.) He is located in Seattle, a ground zero for EV sales. It seems that if you want charging stations to work, you


have to have an e-valet in place to jockey cars around. If you already have a valet, it may make sense to add the charging station in that part of the facility. If you don’t, does it make sense to add the valet? I have done considerable research on this and am told


that in major cities, adding a valet operation 16 hours a day, 7 days a week, including additional insurance costs, is about $125,000 a year or, in round figures, $350 a day. So assuming you park what, 20 cars a day, you have to recoup $17.50 per car to cover labor and insurance costs. Assuming it costs $2 in electricity to charge each car, that


means to squeak by, you have to charge $20 per car to cover your costs. If you park more than 20 a day, you are in hay; less, you are losing money. All this assumes that the cost of purchasing and installing charging stations is free. Does anyone know a garage where they re-charge more


than 20 EVs a day? My guess is that they will have to sell a lot of pure EVs to get to that point. In the meantime, is the parking lot owner/operator supposed to foot the cost? Is the operator going to surcharge $20 a day to those who charge up, or $20 plus the parking rate? These are business decisions you have to make. Think


you will get more business? An operator in New York City told me he would have to get 53 new monthlies that he did- n’t have to break even (not charging a surcharge). He says that is a big number. Does the Leaf driver realize that after all the hype shakes


out and the good business models kick in, he or she will have to pay upwards of $25 for a charge when they do so away from home, plus the cost of the parking space? Charging electric cars away from home is a tad more complex than simply plugging them in for an hour or two. So the basic question – polar bears, the Middle East and


tax subsidies aside – what is the true cost of charging EVs, and while we wait for technology to catch up, who is going to pay for it? If it continues to be the government, I say an emphatic no. Products can and will stand on their own. Seamus


Wilmot may be right. Should we jump in or wait? This is not a conundrum for the charger companies.


They simply need to adjust their pitch and show owner/operators where they need to be to profit from charg- ing stations. The rubber is beginning to meet the road here. How


much is an operator willing to spend to appear greener? The cost of the charging station is only the beginning. Each garage owner will make that business decision.


PT


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