The biggest barrier to electric cars isn’t tech – it’s making public chargers feel safer and more accessible

• Most EV charging happens at home or at the workplace.
• Despite this, the public charging infrastructure still isn't up to snuff.
• Building it out will still take time, but there are many companies tackling the issue.
• Visit the Business section of Insider for more stories.

It started, as most things do, with a gut feeling.

Last October, I spent a weekend testing out the Porsche Taycan 4S EV. The test involved driving around everywhere, depleting the battery, and then finding a place to charge it. Basic stuff.

After dinner, at around 9:30 p.m., I decided the car was in need of a charge, so I pulled up the EVgo app – recommended by a helpful press fleet representative – on my phone and found a public charger not too far away from where I was staying. I have no home charger, so this was the next best option.

The charger stood alone in the parking lot of a nearby mall. During the day, I could see how this placement made sense. But it was dark now. There was no one else in the parking lot. The front doors of the mall were about 200 feet away, but it was unclear if they were even unlocked, since the mall was closed for the night.

I looked around and thought that if my boyfriend weren't there with me, I probably would have skipped charging the car altogether.

After fumbling around with my wallet and credit card (I had to create an EVgo account before I was able to charge), I finally got the charger working and got back into the car to wait, locking the doors. Even in that short amount of time, I didn't love the feeling of standing there, out in the open, valuables in my hands.

We stayed at the charger for approximately 30 minutes.

The experience reminded me of other times I've tried to find public chargers for EVs I've driven. The best experience was being able to charge a Tesla Model 3, since Superchargers were quite prevalent in New York City even in 2018. I didn't have as much luck trying to charge the BMW i8, the Nissan Leaf, or the Kia Niro EV. Mostly, the public chargers were broken, nonexistent, or were difficult to find - located in seemingly random places like at the rear of office parks.

Charging the Taycan forced me to think about something I had never thought about before. When I fill up my car at a gas station, it's well lit and there's always someone working the pumps or the convenience store. There are security cameras. It makes me feel far less vulnerable.

True, the majority of EV charging happens either at home or at work, but there's still some reliance on public chargers. As it has been noted countless times before, this is the weak link in achieving total EV revolution.

And even if that revolution seems like it's in full swing, it's not. EVs accounted for less than 2% of US car sales as of last year. Refueling infrastructure reflects that. As of earlier this year, there were approximately 115,000 gas stations in the US compared to just under 5,000 charging stations.

EVs are new to this game, and when it comes to charging and fueling, they cannot rely on the decades-old infrastructure that gas-powered cars do. While automakers trip over themselves now to launch more and more EVs, it also doesn't seem like most of them are considering how and where buyers are supposed to charge the things. That can leave some of their most vulnerable drivers behind.

Tesla is the only automaker that committed to building out its nationwide Supercharger fast-charging network early on, but its system isn't perfect either. All other EV owners will have to rely on third-party charging companies or the government to provide a complete public charging network.

The good news is there are quite a few companies trying to solve this problem. They envision a society that doesn't necessarily rely on public charging but still has the option of charging - conveniently and accessibly - during a quick run to the store.

The bad news is this will all take time.

I'm not alone

Not long before my experience, prominent YouTuber Maddie Moate discussed something similar.

"I've been pondering why I felt so stressed about struggling to find an #EV charger last night," Moate tweeted. "I had 30 miles left and this morning I was able to solve the problem pretty quickly. Then it hit me. It was dark, past 10pm, I was alone in a car park and I was scared.

"Why are these public charge points not installed with lights? It would instantly make them feel safer and less intimidating. Am I alone or do other women (or anyone) feel the same?"

-Maddie Moate (@maddiemoate) August 22, 2020

After a bit of Googling around, I found only two other mentions of the issue of safety at an EV charger. (The rest of the results concerned topics such as safety to the electric vehicle itself while charging in the rain - perhaps an indication of the value we place in commodities over people? Hm.)

The first was a blog post from 2013, where the author found themselves using a public charger behind a bank.

"I don't feel unsafe, but we do feel a bit on guard and this raises an issue," they wrote. "I am with my husband and it is daylight. What if I was alone and it was nighttime? This question runs through my head often, like when we are charging in a parking garage. They can be creepy places for both men and women. Then, add the fact that you essentially do not have an operating vehicle, and the security issue gets tricky.

"How many women want to go sit in a McDonald's or a cafe for four hours, and then walk back alone in the dark in a strange town? That is the risk now for anyone who wants to drive a Nissan Leaf long distance or make it their only vehicle."

The second was a YouTube video titled "Are Some Electric Car Charger Locations Making People Feel Unsafe?"

"In over five years of electric-car driving, this [issue of feeling unsafe] has never come up in my mind as being a thing," the host said. "What highlighted it to me first, a few months ago, was when my wife was doing a long journey. We have four and a half years in the Nissan Leaf. In that entire time, she never, ever took the Leaf out on a long journey by herself … where you have to use the public charging network."

The YouTuber cited their wife's reasons as not wanting to deal with the app, potentially ending up a broken charger, and, with the case of the couple's Tesla Model 3, the Supercharger on her way home being located behind a hotel - a place she was unwilling to go at night.

Despite the lack of stories - or solutions - online, plenty of EV owners told Insider they had similar experiences.

"[My] partner took a trip from South Carolina to Austin in the new Tesla X," EV owner Sara Parlier wrote to Insider. "He lucked out on a couple with a coffee shop nearby, but many were in sketchy/weird spots, def[initely] not optimal for night charging."

Rachael Werley, who drives a BMW i3 with a range extender, said she primarily relies on Blink and ChargePoint to recharge.

"The Philadelphia Zoo was probably one of the better EV charging experiences I ever had, with the space being conveniently located in a well-lit front corner of the parking garage and coned off," she said. "Thankfully, I never had a scare. But as a mom traveling solo with two young children I was always aware of my surroundings and there were so many times I would skip charging altogether due to sketchiness."

Werley said the three biggest issues with charging her i3 have been: a lack of compatible chargers - Teslas use different types of chargers than the rest of the commercially available EVs - which has improved over time; dim or no lighting at stations in parking lots; and "chargers being generally off the beaten path with minimal foot traffic or amenities within walking distance, leaving you chained to the car with the doors locked and eye contact being avoided at all possible costs."

Jay Steinbrecher, who regularly rides with a friend who owns a Tesla Model 3, told Insider that at one location in Napavine, Washington, "the chargers are tucked away in the back of the lot, near a dog-walking space, and where all of the semis tend to park."

"There's no real lighting in that area, and the location is in the middle of nowhere, so it's not like you can rely on light pollution from nearby towns," Steinbrecher said. "It's very sketch; I think of it every time I stop there."

BMW i3 owner Perry Liu told Insider about the inconveniences - and occasional perils - of trips without being able to rely on a robust network of gas stations. Once, when he and his partner took a spontaneous trip in their i3, they needed "a relatively late-night fast charge at an EVgo station at a closed grocery store."

The two were unfamiliar with the area, and Liu said the lot was almost completely devoid of people and cars. One person "causing a scene" made him uncomfortable enough to leave early, he said.

"I felt lucky that the charging station was under a light pole," he said. "Normally, I would charge to about 80%, but that night I calculated how much range I needed to get home and left earlier."

Bob Campanella, a Tesla Model S owner, generally has a more consistent experience - as can be expected from how built-out Tesla's Supercharger network is comparatively. He said there is one Tesla Supercharger behind a liquor store in Pleasantville, New Jersey, that he regards as "out of the way."

"If everything was closed it would be a little sketchy," he said.

No reported crimes

Consumer group the Digital Citizens Alliance warns EV owners of the dangers of cyber criminals at charging stations, but otherwise, news searches don't return much in the way of crime reports near public chargers - a reassuring sign for those considering early adoption of EVs.

Insider also reached out to California Highway Patrol and Georgia State Patrol - two places with healthy EV adoption - to see if safety at EV chargers was a concern. Both declined to answer and suggested trying local police departments instead.

"Electric vehicle charging stations have become more common, but to my knowledge, we have not experienced any crimes specific to EVs or their owners," Atlanta Police Department spokesperson Steve Avery told Insider.

Noah Barnes, a spokesperson for EV advocacy nonprofit organization Plug In America, also said the agency doesn't "have any specific data" on crimes near charging stations.

"Safety at EV charging stations has not been an issue that we have heard from our network of EV drivers or experienced as EV drivers ourselves," Barnes said.

The fears that I - and the others I spoke with - had were rare, it seemed.

Charging companies don't want to become the new gas stations

"The vast majority of EV charging is done at home overnight, like you would charge your cell phone, unlike gasoline cars which have to go to a gas station to refuel," Barnes said. "Most EV drivers only use public charging occasionally, such as when they're on a long road trip. In a recent survey we conducted of EV drivers, only 6% of drivers reported using public DC fast charging stations on a daily or weekly basis, while 73% reported using them rarely or never."

Right now, Barnes said, many public chargers can be found at malls, restaurants, grocery stores, hotels, or other shopping centers. They're meant for people to use while they're out eating or shopping. As Barnes and other charging advocates see it, the idea of making an extra, dedicated stop to fill up your car - as you would with a traditional gas station - will become a thing of the past.

This is why public charging infrastructure companies such as Electrify America (formed as part of Volkswagen's $2 billion settlement with the US government and California as a result of the Dieselgate emissions scandal), ChargePoint, and Blink aren't focused on becoming the new "gas stations."

"Most people are trying to replicate the gas station model and think that's how it is," ChargePoint's chief revenue officer, Michael Hughes, told Insider in a call. "That is not how it is. It is completely different. And I get that that's an archetype that's all in our heads that we've been doing for a long time."

The only aspect of gas stations that charging companies want to copy is how common and accessible they are. Otherwise, people used to gas stations will need to adjust their thinking a bit.

For one, EV chargers probably won't be advertised with a giant sign you can see from a mile away. A charging station itself is much smaller than a gas station, and thus more flexible in where it can be placed.

"Since EV fast-charging stations don't necessitate the installation of large on-site gas tanks, we have more flexibility to locate our chargers in places that fit naturally into a driver's routine," Wayne Killen, the director of charging infrastructure planning and business development at Electrify America, told Insider. "Our customers can multitask - run errands, shop for groceries, or dine out - at most of our locations while their EV charges."

Blink's chief operating officer, Brendan Jones, told Insider that because charging often takes longer than filling a tank with gas, the company looks to put chargers "where EV drivers already frequent."

"In essence, we bring the EV charging to them, fitting into their everyday needs," Jones said. "When you visit the supermarket, you should be able to get a quick charge and go. Heading to the movies? Yup, we want you to be able to charge there also."

Still, this doesn't always account for the handful of long-distance EV drivers who sometimes roll into a new town late at night in need of a charge. While most people don't love having to stop at a gas station in the middle of the night, there's usually an attached convenience store where drivers can use the restroom or buy a snack.

The infrastructure is coming, but it will take time

"The oil industry had 100-plus years to be able to figure out the infrastructure," Patty Monahan, a commissioner on the California Energy Commission, told Insider. "What we're trying to do is really jumpstart this electrified transportation future."

For EV drivers right now, this means that they might need to plan a bit more ahead of time - particularly, mapping out where the chargers are. This, I suspect, is the toughest pill to swallow for those still on the fence about making the EV leap. Consumers often choose the convenient option over the inconvenient one.

Other inconveniences include "too few charging stations, too much demand at the stations that are available, broken chargers, confusing payment systems, exorbitant electricity rates, and uncertainty over how long their cars need to charge," Christopher Mims reported in the Wall Street Journal recently.

"In a survey of 3,500 EV drivers conducted in September and October 2020 by Plug In America, more than half reported having problems with public charging," Mims wrote. "These problems were worse for respondents who drove non-Tesla vehicles; almost 60% of those reported issues. The most common complaint was a non-functional charger."

And herein lies the heart of range anxiety - the fear that you'll be stranded somewhere, alone, late at night in a depleted car and without access to a public charger. Though EV advocates have pointed out again and again that this situation is rare, it's still enough to deter buyers.

We don't talk about range anxiety in internal combustion-engine cars because we know there will always be a gas station somewhere out there. Even in dire situations, you can just run down the road and bring back a jerry can of fuel if you need it. This isn't the case with EVs.

Unfortunately, it's a problem that will only vanish when public chargers become more prevalent and easily accessible. And in addition to those basics, public charging groups are already thinking about how to make the stations more attractive to more people overall.

Accessible charging

Increasing the physical number of chargers is a major step.

"In California, we're making a big effort to ramp up available electric vehicle charging," Monahan said. "We have about 67,000 chargers. We have a goal of having 250,000 chargers by 2025."

President Joe Biden has said he wants to install 500,000 more public EV chargers by 2030. It's an impressive goal, but it won't do to just throw down some chargers in random places to fill a quota and let the public figure out the rest.

"One of the key barriers is having convenient refueling for all owners," Monahan went on. The public infrastructure needs to get to the point where chargers are "convenient, safe, and well-lit where you feel you're secure" no matter where you live, she said.

In the Peninsula-Silicon Valley Incentive Project implementation manual, there is the requirement that stations must be "well-lit, secure and in compliance with all federal, state and municipal laws, ordinances, rules, codes, standards and regulations."

And even in regions where there aren't such strict mandates, public charging companies like Electrify America and Blink have guidelines they follow.

"Electrify America prioritizes customer confidence and comfort as part of our charging experience," Killen said. "We have built several requirements into our real estate approach to achieve this." For example, the chargers must be long-term and 24/7 accessible, be clearly visible from the surrounding roads and entrances, and be walking distance to amenities.

"At some locations, we actually install our own lighting to supplement the site's existing parking lamps," Killen went on. "Additionally, many of our site hosts use security cameras."

When it can't get a charger in an upfront location, Jones said Blink "has a deployment configuration that can specifically address safety concerns."

"The Blink Smart-Kiosk setup pairs the actual EV charging stations - up to 20 - with a smart unit that controls the EV chargers," Jones said. "This allows a parking structure to place the kiosk, where the EV driver interacts with the unit and starts a charge, in a well-lit, heavily trafficked, and safe location."

The most promising solution, however, is when additional providers get involved.

Getting the retailers on board

For retailers, there's extra business incentive in adding a charging station.

"The number of gas stations that have a full set of services that people would want to spend a half-hour in or 20 minutes in is limited," ChargePoint's Hughes said. "But the number of Kohl's, Targets, Walgreens, or McDonald's, whatever - certainly they can become a fueling destination. [They] want to be a part of this charging network, and leverage that to provide service to their customers. [That will] drive customers in the store, and hopefully have them spend some money there as well."

Oil companies are getting involved, too.

"The company I know that's invested the most in this strategy is Shell," Monahan said. "I think the oil companies and the gas stations are really trying to figure out what their future looks like as more and more electric vehicles come to market. Car companies are seeing the writing on the wall. The future is electric. The future is zero emission.

"If they want to survive in the future, more companies like Shell will need to be investing in infrastructure to be able to do that."

Shell did not respond to Insider's requests for comment regarding whether it plans to implement charging stations at its locations.

A work in progress

So, our EV infrastructure is on the up and up. This is a good thing.

I realized what I and all the other EV owners I spoke with for this story saw are the growing pains. Gas stations have been a staple for decades, and consumers have only really started getting serious about EVs within the past few years. Building out an entirely new public charging system with new demands will take years, and when an industry expands this quickly in this short an amount of time, some are bound to be left behind.

It isn't true progress until no one is left behind, but it's heartening to hear that the issue of inaccessible or secluded public chargers is well on its way to becoming a thing of the past.

I also cannot discount my own clumsiness when it comes to thinking about charging an EV versus filling up at a gas station. I have almost 30 years' worth of thinking to undo. Having to never stop at a gas station again - to go out of my way to complete that extra errand on my list - is something that will take getting used to.

I set out on this whole thing hoping for a fast and easy solution to a problem I experienced. I did not find one because there isn't one, and perhaps it was unfair of me to expect that.

Electric adoption is still a fraction of the car market. What EV owners see now is a revolutionary shift just starting to take hold. Most owners still fill up their gargantuan trucks and SUVs at convenient gas stations dotting the nation, while EV owners are relegated to sparse charging spots popping up here and there on the map when they're away from their homes or offices.

The people building the infrastructure have a vision where you, your parents, your friends, and your neighbors have all made the switch. The utopia of hooking up for a quick charge at Target or Kohl's is all but instinctive. Everyone has a safe and accessible place to charge. No one is left in the dark, feeling vulnerable.

But, realistically, that won't happen until years from now.

For EV owners who took - or plan to take - the plunge early, it just means buckling down and dealing with the growing pains until the rest of the world finally catches up.