Florida falls short on EV chargers. So why is state sitting on millions to install them?
Published in Miami Herald Sept. 2024
Outside the Walmart parking lot in Hialeah, a chic young woman smoking a skinny cigarette waited next to her brand-new electric Porsche Taycan, painted an equally chic pale pink color the automaker calls “frozen berry.”
The woman, who would give her name only as Tang P, had driven 25 minutes from downtown Miami to find the closest electric vehicle fast charger — and with two cars ahead of her in line, it took nearly another half an hour before she could plug in. Her car is gorgeous but she said she already was having second thoughts.
“I regret the EV because it’s too much work for charging and I haven’t even taken it on a long trip – it would be a huge pain,” she said. “On the other side, I always make friends while we charge together. It’s better networking than the club.”
The shortage of fast chargers is a common complaint in Florida, which already boasts the second-most electric vehicle drivers in the country, and also a concern for the fast-growing EV industry. According to a PwC accounting firm analysis, there’s a large and growing gap between the demand for EVs and the supply of charging stations that don’t take hours to fill batteries with juice. The firm found that the charging market in the U.S. will need to grow nearly tenfold to satisfy the needs of an estimated 27 million EVs on the road by 2030.
Industry experts fear Florida is at risk of lagging even farther behind — in part because of politics.
The state has been sitting on nearly nearly $110 million in federal funds intended to install fast charges and it’s not yet clear if it will meet a fast-approaching deadline that would free up another $88 million. (Update: On Tuesday, the Federal Highway Administration told the Miami Herald that the state had met the deadline to file). And despite pressure from roadside gas-and-food giants like Buc-ee’s and WaWa, it’s also not clear if the state will allow businesses, government agencies, universities and others to apply for the money that would cover 80 percent of the installation costs with the goal of building a network of fast charges every 50 miles on interstates.
The nearly $200 million happens to come from the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that President Joe Biden signed into law in November 2021 — a major achievement for Biden and the Democratic Party.
The state’s Republican leadership — lead by Gov. Ron DeSantis, who failed in his bid to become the Republican challenger to Biden — has a history of rejecting federal plans and money. It turned down, for example, two climate initiatives —$320 million to help reduce tailpipe emissions and another $3 million to come up with a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, create green energy jobs, lower energy costs for families and reduce air pollution.
The Florida Department of Transportation, which oversees EV charging programs, also has given mixed signals on supporting the emerging EV market. It created a website called “Roads are Not for Politics” arguing the Biden administration had “weaponized” transportation dollars and attacking the entire federal infrastructure bill, which includes billions for replacing failing bridges, dams and improving roads across the county.
One section of the website titled, “The War Against the American Automobile” asks, “why would the government be so insistent on getting rid of one of the greatest inventions like the combustion engine?” It goes on to say, “while the federal government’s obsession with electric vehicles is increasingly becoming an obsession that helps China, Florida continues its all-hands-on-deck approach to fight back.”
The agency site says there were too many rules and Floridians had no desire “for the government to track what they drive, where they drive and how often they drive.” But FDOT also released an updated electric vehicle deployment plan in 2023 with “improvements to address charging gaps identified in the market” with funds from the federal program the department said will “encourage the expansion of EVs,” including making Florida “a national leader in EV infrastructure implementation.” And since 2020, the state says the number of available fast chargers has increased by 115 percent.
In response to questions from the Miami Herald, Michael Williams, an FDOT spokesman said the state agency was still reviewing the federal program that would help bankroll more charging stations.
“As this is a newly created program with many requirements, it is important that FDOT completes out due diligence to ensure we are effectively planning the proper use of tax-payer dollars, especially as we have already seen individual projects deliver under this program costing millions of dollars.”
In contrast, 40 other states have already put out request for applications for the funding and 28 states already have contracts in place to start installations, a Federal Highway Administration spokesperson told the Herald. The agency told the Herald the state had until Sep. 1 to submit an updated plan for 2025.
Ali Dysard, a senior policy specialist from the global environmental nonprofit, the Environmental Defense Fund, said FDOT has clearly pumped the brakes on charging expansion. At one point, she said, FDOT removed information that applications would be open in the spring of 2023, which never happened. She also argued the program doesn’t have any impact on Florida taxpayers but would be a boost for EV makers, drivers and the businesses that want to supply them power.
“It’s federal funding that we already paid through our taxes,” Dysard said. “We’re in the third year of it so there should be a request for applications, we should know where we are going and other states already have chargers installed in the ground.”
Other EV advocates echoed that view, arguing the expansion of fast chargers could have larger ripple benefits for the state’s economy.
“Florida’s a tourist economy,” Janet Bowman, a senior policy analyst for the Nature Conservancy said. “You have people driving into the state to visit our beaches, visit our state parks, visit Disney World. And I think charging is an amenity for those folks. Charging is also important for hurricane evacuation. It’s important to have charging stations available, not just where people live, but also where they travel.”
It’s not just climate activists and EV makers pushing for Florida to take the money. The federal program funding would be a boom for big businesses like Bu-Cee’s and WaWa, covering 80% of costs to buy and install chargers. It would, at the least, defray costs for EV expansion already underway for the gas giants. Buc’ees has a $1 billion deal with Mercedes-Benz to install chargers in Southern states — which includes 10 fast chargers in Daytona. Ryan McKinnon, a spokesman for the Charge Ahead Partnership formed with support of the two big companies but also representing gas stations, truck spots and convenience stores, said businesses don’t care if they’re selling gasoline, diesel or electrical power. They just want to serve a growing market.
“Allow entrepreneurs and businesses to invest in EV charging so they can meet that new demand,” McKinnon said. “These businesses have the customer base, and more than 100 years of people being used to making a pit stop at their locations during trips. It shouldn’t be the kind of thing that gets bogged down in politics, but it might be.”
The program would allow more EV customers to travel more easily on interstates instead of using apps to seek charging stations elsewhere, often in places like the Hialeah Walmart parking lot.
FAST VS. SLOW CHARGING
You can charge most EVs just anywhere there is an outlet. But there are different levels of charging power and some cars can replenish power quicker than others. In many places the process can be slow, taking hours or more to partially recharge the massive battery packs that power EVs. Most people with a house and an electric vehicle can get by with a slow charger that will replenish batteries overnight. You also might see chargers outside an apartment building, Starbucks, hotel or doctor’s office - often a convenience to customers.
But many of those chargers might only increase the battery life by 5% in an hour — not enough for a lengthy commute, let alone a road trip. That’s why high-speed chargers are considered so critical to the EV industry and drivers. They’re far more expensive to install but they can function more like a gas station – where you can stop, maybe grab a coffee, and your car will be charged up in about 30 minutes.
EV drivers around Miami-Dade told the Herald they’d appreciate more chargers. Sebastian Yepes, who lives in Midtown but also drove out to the Hialeah Walmart for a fast charge, said he frequently drives his electric BMW to Atlanta and rarely finds four or five cars already in line like he does in Florida. The larger number of EVs in South Florida may explain some of that but, he said, he “never has to wait there.”
Frank Marsala, a corporate representative at South Dade Kia, said his company spent millions on its own to install eight slow chargers and two fast chargers at the dealership that will be up and running in a week. He would’ve appreciated federal grant help, but felt it was an important service to offer his customers with range anxiety. Most people get 300 mile range, and use less than 40 miles a day to and from work, he said, but that changes if customers “want to go see Mickey Mouse.” It’s the reason he drives a hybrid.
“You may get there depending on the load. But that’s where the superchargers really come in, because you don’t have to sit and wait for X number of hours, right?” Marsala said. “If the buying public wants EVs they need to be supported, and that’s more chargers at a reasonable price.”
Tesla owns and operates the largest global, fast charging network in the world. While there was promise that that network would be available to other EV drivers, only Ford and Rivian have the required software updates. But they still don’t have the right physical adapter, and there is no word on when that might change, the New York Times reported.
The federal government is also making grants that bypass the state. The U.S. Department of Transportation announced this week the Seminole Tribe of Florida and Miami-Dade County are receiving money to expand charging networks. Miami-Dade will receive nearly $4.8 million to install 390 charging ports across 73 community facilities including libraries, parks, transit hubs, cultural arts facilities, community resource centers, public safety facilities, and college campuses. The Seminole Tribe of Florida will receive $933,600 to install EV charging in seven locations across four reservation areas in Florida.
For Clayton Williams, powering up his Tesla at the Brickell City Center lot this week for a commute to Delray Beach, the more fast charge options, the better. The Tesla calculates a map of chargers along the route, but pulling over to find the plug in and then waiting for it to charge adds at least an extra 30 minutes he didn’t account for with his gas car. He opts out of using his Brickell apartment complex’s slow chargers because they’re more expensive and he has to remember to move his car.
He paid $6 to park in the garage at Brickell City Center and another $25 to charge from 40% to 100%. He said, even with the parking, it ends up costly slightly less than gasoline would cost for the trip. “You plan your day around charging,” Williams said.