Charging an electric car in Manhattan takes a little work—but it’s already a lot easier than finding a gas station.
As of 2011, there are approximately 320 publicly accessible charging locations in the city. Data from the US Department of Energycompared to only 29 remaining gas stations, according to New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets. In other words, Manhattan’s EV-charging sites now outnumber its gas stations by 10 to one. Gas stations still dominate across the city – 697 in all five boroughs, versus about 520 charging sites – but even there, chargers are catching on.
“I don’t think you need to go to the electric-vehicle adoption stage to see gas-station deforestation,” says Pasquale. RomanoThe country’s largest EV-charging company, ChargePoint Holdings Inc. Chief Executive Officer. “It’s a question of when.”
The most immediate reason for Manhattan’s gas-station shortage has nothing to do with EVs. The land on the island is simply too valuable to waste on a business that is at least as profitable and needs a convenience store or car wash to survive. One by one, the city’s gas stations have been bulldozed to make way for condos and offices—a dynamic that has been going on for years in compact, pricey San Francisco, which now has 92 gas stations, according to California Energy Commissionvs 139 EV charging site.
But as New York City officials Insist on installing more EV chargers In all five boroughs, Manhattan’s numbers will only increase unilaterally. And the location of those chargers reflects a fundamental change that electric cars will bring: Drivers of the future can expect to do the bulk of their refueling work at home or at work, rather than at a station on the corner.
Most of Manhattan’s public chargers exist in a broad arc from the Upper East Side and Upper West Side to Midtown, although farther south as well. Unlike the city’s gas stations, most of which can be found north of Central Park, there are a few EV chargers up 110th Street.
A large number of Manhattan’s public charging stations are in parking garages, usually with multiple chargers at each site. in many sites Tesla Inc. Chargers that are designed strictly for that company’s cars (though other EVs may use Tesla’s lower-powered “destination” chargers with an adapter). All are “Level 2” devices except for a few public chargers in the city that take several hours to power off a car battery instead of a fast “DC fast” charger.
New York officials eager for more curbside options – a city website that praises the benefits of curbside charging Lists just 35 such places In all five cities – but locating the charger for now may take a little planning. Depending on the garage, chargers are either self-serve or valet, and some will prioritize monthly customers, while others are first-come, first-served. Prices vary depending on the garage: some offer a flat rate, such as $20 for a fee, in addition to the garage’s regular parking fee. Others charge an hourly fee – for example, $3 per hour, or whatever fee is assessed by charger operators such as Blink Charging Company – in addition to the regular parking price of the garage. Still others charge only for parking and offer electricity as a perk. A recent Week of the Week survey of six garages found that most charging spots are full, and there is a broken charger.
Sherry Bossert of Lebanon, New Hampshire, used plugshare App for finding refueling places for Teslas on a recent trip to the Upper West Side. He chose a valet garage on West 75th Street, a block from his hotel. Bossert, 66, had to hand over the key fob and pay the regular parking fee – electricity came for free.
“Once you’re out of gasoline and you don’t have to go to those smelly, dirty, crowded gasoline stations, you don’t want to go back,” says Bossert, an author and longtime EV advocate. Huh. “And it costs a lot less.”
Drivers in New York did not rush to give up gasoline at all. According to the research firm, fully electric cars and plug-in hybrids account for 8.9% of new passenger vehicles in the city this year. atlas public policy, That’s up from last year’s 6.6%, but still well behind Los Angeles, where 13.8% of new cars run electric this year. That’s an issue for New York City officials, whose plan to fight climate change is to have 400,000 EVs on city streets by 2030 and 1.6 million by 2050Over that 24,000 now,
Even though Manhattan’s gas stations are primarily driven by real estate prices, ChargePoint’s Romano says electric cars will put more pressure on gas station owners, especially those who rely on selling fast food and car washes. . Eventually, “range anxiety”—the fear of an EV running out of charge on the road—will apply more to owners of gas-powered vehicles.
“If no one is going for gas, that means no one is going to the convenience store,” Romano says. “It starts to slide, and it doesn’t take long to turn that business upside down.”
As of 2011, there are approximately 320 publicly accessible charging locations in the city. Data from the US Department of Energycompared to only 29 remaining gas stations, according to New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets. In other words, Manhattan’s EV-charging sites now outnumber its gas stations by 10 to one. Gas stations still dominate across the city – 697 in all five boroughs, versus about 520 charging sites – but even there, chargers are catching on.
“I don’t think you need to go to the electric-vehicle adoption stage to see gas-station deforestation,” says Pasquale. RomanoThe country’s largest EV-charging company, ChargePoint Holdings Inc. Chief Executive Officer. “It’s a question of when.”
The most immediate reason for Manhattan’s gas-station shortage has nothing to do with EVs. The land on the island is simply too valuable to waste on a business that is at least as profitable and needs a convenience store or car wash to survive. One by one, the city’s gas stations have been bulldozed to make way for condos and offices—a dynamic that has been going on for years in compact, pricey San Francisco, which now has 92 gas stations, according to California Energy Commissionvs 139 EV charging site.
But as New York City officials Insist on installing more EV chargers In all five boroughs, Manhattan’s numbers will only increase unilaterally. And the location of those chargers reflects a fundamental change that electric cars will bring: Drivers of the future can expect to do the bulk of their refueling work at home or at work, rather than at a station on the corner.
Most of Manhattan’s public chargers exist in a broad arc from the Upper East Side and Upper West Side to Midtown, although farther south as well. Unlike the city’s gas stations, most of which can be found north of Central Park, there are a few EV chargers up 110th Street.
A large number of Manhattan’s public charging stations are in parking garages, usually with multiple chargers at each site. in many sites Tesla Inc. Chargers that are designed strictly for that company’s cars (though other EVs may use Tesla’s lower-powered “destination” chargers with an adapter). All are “Level 2” devices except for a few public chargers in the city that take several hours to power off a car battery instead of a fast “DC fast” charger.
New York officials eager for more curbside options – a city website that praises the benefits of curbside charging Lists just 35 such places In all five cities – but locating the charger for now may take a little planning. Depending on the garage, chargers are either self-serve or valet, and some will prioritize monthly customers, while others are first-come, first-served. Prices vary depending on the garage: some offer a flat rate, such as $20 for a fee, in addition to the garage’s regular parking fee. Others charge an hourly fee – for example, $3 per hour, or whatever fee is assessed by charger operators such as Blink Charging Company – in addition to the regular parking price of the garage. Still others charge only for parking and offer electricity as a perk. A recent Week of the Week survey of six garages found that most charging spots are full, and there is a broken charger.
Sherry Bossert of Lebanon, New Hampshire, used plugshare App for finding refueling places for Teslas on a recent trip to the Upper West Side. He chose a valet garage on West 75th Street, a block from his hotel. Bossert, 66, had to hand over the key fob and pay the regular parking fee – electricity came for free.
“Once you’re out of gasoline and you don’t have to go to those smelly, dirty, crowded gasoline stations, you don’t want to go back,” says Bossert, an author and longtime EV advocate. Huh. “And it costs a lot less.”
Drivers in New York did not rush to give up gasoline at all. According to the research firm, fully electric cars and plug-in hybrids account for 8.9% of new passenger vehicles in the city this year. atlas public policy, That’s up from last year’s 6.6%, but still well behind Los Angeles, where 13.8% of new cars run electric this year. That’s an issue for New York City officials, whose plan to fight climate change is to have 400,000 EVs on city streets by 2030 and 1.6 million by 2050Over that 24,000 now,
Even though Manhattan’s gas stations are primarily driven by real estate prices, ChargePoint’s Romano says electric cars will put more pressure on gas station owners, especially those who rely on selling fast food and car washes. . Eventually, “range anxiety”—the fear of an EV running out of charge on the road—will apply more to owners of gas-powered vehicles.
“If no one is going for gas, that means no one is going to the convenience store,” Romano says. “It starts to slide, and it doesn’t take long to turn that business upside down.”