I was thrilled to be a part of the ‘Economics and Policy of Electric Transportation Charging Infrastructure academic research workshop kickoff” hosted by the Salata Institute and the MIT Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research. It was a timely discussion of EV issues and approaches to solving them.

The evening got off to a rough start however when I pulled into the garage at the Charles St. Hotel in Cambridge, MA and attempted to get a charge. The instructions looked simple enough, but were complicated by the fact that there was little cell service there, so the app would not connect with the charger. I made multiple attempts with the app to make the connection and starting the charge, but after 15 minutes, I simply gave up.

Of course, my opening remarks at the event focused on the charging frustration I had undergone moments before the event started. One point that became clear in our discussion, is that we need to consolidate the apps, so that we don’t have 14 of them to rummage through even time we look for a charge. And then we need sufficient wi-fi or cell service to make the system function. It was a great discussion and I was happy to see that some talented academics are on it and looking at ways to improving charging. As I have said repeatedly, we are doomed if we don’t make it efficient and easy.