Tag: charging stations

Guest Post: EV Charging– Driving Toward Universal Accessibility

 

Prof. Misty Blessley at Temple U. looks into an issue facing EV owners.

New Jersey is removing Tesla Superchargers from Turnpike and Parkway service areas and replacing them with universal chargers provided by Applegreen Electric. These new stations will feature CCS1, CHAdeMO, and J1772 connectors, making them compatible with a wider range of EVs. Tesla owners can use these chargers with adapters. Most newer Tesla models can accommodate J1772 (Level 2) and CCS (DC fast charging) connections through external adapters.

This shift reflects a broader trend toward open-access infrastructure aimed at increasing accessibility for all EV drivers. It also introduces new OM considerations around the production, availability, and use of adapters.

The Shift Toward Open Infrastructure
New Jersey’s decision mirrors historical tech battles between proprietary systems and open standards. Tesla, like Apple in its early days, built a closed ecosystem. The state’s move to universal chargers signals a shift toward interoperability over exclusivity. As one article put it, “Up until recently, the vast network of more than 1,600 Tesla Supercharger fast EV charging stations in the U.S. was a perk exclusive to Tesla owners.” That exclusivity is
now being replaced with inclusivity, with the cost falling on Tesla drivers now being dependent on an external device.

In this context, adapters become the modern equivalent of USB driver software, seemingly minor components that play a major role in user experience and system reliability.

Adapter Implications for Operations and Supply Chain
 Forecasting and Demand Planning: Widespread reliance on adapters will drive new demand. Manufacturers must scale production, distribution, and after-sales support.
 Inventory Management: Retailers and even rest stops may need to stock or rent adapters, creating SKU complexity.
 Station Capacity: Adapters can increase setup time, and Level 2 chargers provide only 13–25 miles of range per hour—far slower than Tesla’s V3 Superchargers (over 200 miles in 15 minutes), potentially reducing the number of EVs that can be charged at a station.

 Risk and Reliability: Adapters introduce new points of failure because they are mechanical devices prone to wear, damage, or user error. This raises customer service and warranty cost concerns.

Classroom discussion questions:
1. In Ch. 11 of your Heizer/Render/Munson textbook, component standardization is discussed. What are the benefits of standardizing EVs and charging stations?
2. What advice would you provide to operations managers on the adapter implications mentioned above?

OM in the News: Electric Big Rigs Hit the Street, but Chargers are Scarce

Heavy-duty electric trucks are rolling out across the country. But “the electric grid upgrades and equipment needed to plug them in aren’t,” writes The Wall Street Journal (July 17, 2023).

California plans to require new trucks to be zero-emissions by 2036.

As automakers deliver new electric trucks to fleet customers, parking lots that once needed enough power for a few floodlights now might need to draw as much power as a skyscraper. But the necessary grid improvements could take years.  In January, California utility PG&E told some large fleet customers they wouldn’t be able to charge trucks for a few years during summer afternoons when California electricity use peaks. Capacity upgrades would take at least until 2026, said PG&E.

Similar issues are popping up across the U.S. as firms place larger EV truck orders.  “One or two trucks, everybody’s got. It’s when they try to do their fleets,” said the CEO of Exelon, an eastern U.S. utility company.

The challenge is especially acute in California, where drayage trucks, which carry containerized cargo to and from ports and rail centers, face a looming deadline. The state will require any new drayage trucks to run on electric batteries or hydrogen fuel cells. California also plans to phase out sales of new gasoline-powered passenger cars, pickup trucks and SUVs by 2035 and require all new medium- and heavy-duty truck sales be zero-emissions by 2036.

Electric trucks have the potential to reduce air emissions for communities by eliminating diesel use. Trucks represent 6% of the vehicles on California’s roads, but a quarter of the state’s on-road greenhouse-gas emissions. California forecasts it will have 180,000 medium- and heavy-duty zero-emission vehicles by 2030 that would need 157,000 chargers, many of those at depots operated by the fleet owners. There are fewer than 700 chargers at depots now.

Fleet owners must figure out how to install chargers at their depots, a complex engineering and power management task. Chargers will also be needed on the road but there is no network of electric truck stops yet. California has the most EV fast chargers for regular passenger cars nationally, but those sites aren’t designed to fit industrial vehicles. As fleets add trucks they will need to draw at least 6 to 8 more megawatts of power. That’s about 1,000 homes.

Classroom discussion questions:

  1. As a fleet manager, what is your strategy?
  2. As a power company such as PG&E, what is your capacity strategy?