The State of California’s Public Utility Commission has authorized Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) to install 7,500 electric car charging stations in Northern California which is in addition to 5,000 for San Diego Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison. This places very large utility companies squarely in the mix of the electric car revolution. Since one of electric car buyers biggest concerns is “range anxiety” having so many available may not eliminate the concern but should help to mitigate it.
Having an additional 12,000 electric car charging locations in California would be close to the 13,500 gas stations in the state. Many of the stations will be at work-places and multi-unit apartment buildings. While they are not equivalent since gas stations are located in public places and easy to spot you also have to consider that there are already thousands of charging locations that can found in apps such as Blink, ChargePoint, Open Charge Map and PlugShare. And there are probably thousands if not more than 10,000 people who “fill-up” at home. Overall the electric car “refueling” distribution ecosystem will be very different than gasoline stations.