Can we please just get a state government to start installing charging stations in all public lots so these charging companies have to give up their dreams of being a monopoly?
Completely agree that the "sign up and use our app" approach is insufferable. But asking your state to build all the infrastructure doesn't solve the problem. Your state is not going to (a) manufacture charging stations or (b) build the software/payment interfaces needed to manage them. What you're proposing would have the gov sole-source from one of these "apps". Instead of letting the the market determine who can build the best user experience, you would be giving one company (probably ChargePoint) a government-granted monopoly.
I’d settle for requiring charging station operators to use existing financial infrastructure (cash, card, contactless device, etc.). It doesn’t seem like an onerous burden to place on a business and the cost to consumers is not substantially different than what they’re accustomed to.
> Amply sets up the physical charging infrastructure for commercial fleets like school buses and uses its software to manage the charging.
This really is a question of basic, national infrastructure and I think it should be treated as such rather than this fractured marketplace we have.
In LA, there’s no Superchargers in Beverly Hills or West Hollywood. There’s one in Culver City and one in Burbank. Some don’t tell you they’re “shared” so sometimes it says 30 mins to charge, other times 3 hours.
They were going to build a Supercharger in the Pacific Palisades but the Dept of Transportation said no.
No.
How about you give your business to a company that accepts credit card, like any gas station, instead?
CCS: https://www.charinev.org/index.php?id=170
CHAdeMO: https://www.chademo.com/