Renters Face Charging Dilemma As U.S. Cities Move Toward EVs
Newsy
Electric vehicles are soaring in popularity, but how and where to charge up remains a dilemma that's a barrier for most renters.
Stephanie Terrell bought a used Nissan Leaf this fall and was excited to join the wave of drivers adopting electric vehicles to save on gas money and reduce her carbon footprint.
But Terrell quickly encountered a bump in the road on her journey to clean driving: As a renter, she doesn't have a private garage where she can power up overnight, and the public charging stations near her are often in use, with long wait times. On a recent day, the 23-year-old nearly ran out of power on the freeway because a public charging station she was counting on was busy.
"It was really scary and I was really worried I wasn't going to make it, but luckily I made it here. Now I have to wait a couple hours to even use it because I can't go any further," she said while waiting at another station where a half-dozen EV drivers circled the parking lot, waiting their turn. "I feel better about it than buying gas, but there are problems I didn't really anticipate."
