The Electric Gas Station: Sampling the infrastructure

Whereas most automakers’ EVs are part of a larger powertrain portfolio, Tesla only makes electrics. That concentration pushed its engineers into understanding that EVs need to be thought of as a system, not merely as just another car in the lineup.

With the charging infrastructure still in its nascent stages, allow me to tell you about the “systems” out there and what you might experience.

The smart way to charge is during the day at work, when renewables are often being wasted, said our charging and infrastructure expert Alec Brooks. He noted that in one recent lunchtime hour, 74,000 EVs could have been charged from California’s available but idled solar production.

But not everyone