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[protomech]

Cross-posted on the Brammo Forum.

47000 miles of interstate in the US.

Nissan sells a $10k CHAdeMO station. Figure installation is $10k apiece.

Say servicing is $500/station/year, figure 1 hour usage/station/day = ~50 kWh/station/day = $5/day operational costs = $1500/year. $2000/station/year total.

Install them every 30 miles on the interstates, and you'd need 1500 stations. $30 million to install. $3 million/year to operate. If you built them say every 20 miles, add 50% to the costs.

$30-45 million is a LOT of money .. but not on the national infrastructure level. 10k EV cars were sold in the US in 2011 @ $7500 subsidy each - figure half of those received state subsidies @ $2500 ea .. that's $87 million. For ONE year.

Why is this not a thing? States could build these at their rest stations. Some have, in fact, but very few.

[ColoPaul]

Nissan sells a $10k CHAdeMO station. Figure installation is $10k apiece.

Yes, some rest stations exist and could be used.  But not everywhere -- How much does the land cost to put the station on?  Out in the country there is plenty but in urban areas not so much.  Like a rest stop on a highway, safety dictates you want it a fair distance from actual traffic so you can't use existing easements.  How much does the paving cost for the small parking area around the station, as well as the construction of 'high speed' on/off ramps?
Even at rest stations, there may not be appropriate power available - and you'll always need engineering plans/submittals, local building permits, transformers and possible power line changes, nighttime lighting, landscaping, signage and the labor to do all of this...

I think $10k/station is low by an order of magnitude, or more.

That said;  I still agree with your premise.  So what if it costs $300 million?  That's the cost of 1/3 of a B2 bomber.  Chump change.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_Grumman_B-2_Spirit

[Richard230]

The worse thing about public rest stops, at least in California, is that several every year are closed due to "vandalism".  I get this bad feeling that vandals would rip out the charging station equipment as fast as it is installed and it would never be replaced after that happened.  I think charging stations should be located at gasoline stations that are manned 24-7, until a better solution comes along.  That would seem like the cheapest way of dealing with the problem.

[CliC]

Yeah, I think $10k is very low. Getting that kind of power out to these places is going to be expensive.

I think EV prices are going to have to come down to drive this. Once people start buying them in numbers for local commuting, they'll then want to travel longer distances with them. But until a significant number of people have EVs, few are going to want their tax dollars going towards this infrastructure.

[kingcharles]

Does anybody know what the actual gas pump and underground equipment costs? An electric "pump" is much cheaper. especially maintenance on them!

[protomech]

Quick look online shows $1-2 million construction costs for a gas station, including all the equipment, land purchase, etc.

Definitely land purchase is an overwhelming cost driver if it must be done. That's why installing them at state rest stops seems like a good solution, although of course those are not spaced densely enough.

[protomech]

It looks like SAE has finalized the design for their coupled AC / DC charger inlet.
http://www.sae.org/servlets/pressRoom?OBJECT_TYPE=PressReleases&PAGE=showRelease&RELEASE_ID=1897

They support up to 500V and 200A (100 kW max). Just like CHAdeMO. CHAdeMO spec supports up to 500V and 200A, but it's not clear whether 100 kW is supported. Most chargers in the wild support up to 500-550V and 125A, with a maximum output power of 50 kW.

I suppose it would be very easy to have an offboard charger that supported both CHAdeMO and SAE DC, but man what a pain in the ass.