After criticizing Electrify America's latest public spending plan on electric vehicle chargers for its perceived inadequacies, members of the California Air Resources Board unanimously approved it.
“I want to get the money out,” said board member Davina Hurt.
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The air board is overseeing an $800 million court settlement requiring German automaker Volkswagen to pay for a fast-charging system in California — the effective penalty for VW's decision to install software in its cars that falsified results. emissions tests and hid the fact that its vehicles were spewing more pollution than state law allows.
Thursday's vote approved the final tranche of $200 million and a plan to spend it.
Already, $600 million has been distributed to pay for 1,093 chargers and electric vehicle education and marketing programs.
The emphasis at the meeting was on implementing chargers, reducing long wait times at charging stations as sales of electric vehicles grow. However, it was recognized that non-functioning chargers are partly responsible for wait times that can extend up to hours.
Electrify America, the company created by VW, has admitted problems with charger reliability, as have state-subsidized companies ChargePoint, EVgo, Blink and others.
The board met Thursday and members immediately began speaking harshly.
“What we see here today is a lack of specificity in the maintenance plan,” said member Eric Guerra. “I would hate for today to become a rubber stamp for a maintenance plan that says 'trust us.' “
Maintenance plans lack “teeth,” Hurt agreed.
John Balmes, a member of Air's board of directors, said he is “frustrated” with Electrify America's unreliable chargers. On a recent attempt, “I had trouble connecting.” He said it took him “40 minutes to [a Kia EV6]a fast charging car.”
Liane Randolph, board president, said even Electrify America's newest stations are unreliable. At the newly opened Kettleman City station along Interstate 5, she said, “three chargers were out of service for several days.”
Some members criticized what they said was Electrify America's lack of transparency in meeting its commitment to install 35% of its chargers in disadvantaged communities.
Member Diane Takvorian said she “questions the validity” of the company's statistics. Member Dean Florez said, “This may be our last hearing on this matter. How do we know it will meet the 35%?
Working furiously in the Sacramento hearing room as board members spoke, air board staff proposed modified language for the plan. The staff, according to air board top executive Steven Cliff, will work with Electrify America to obtain reliability and maintenance data and clarify where chargers are located in disadvantaged communities.
The CEO of Electrify America promised to achieve a 97% reliability level for all of its chargers. (State and federal officials are still hammering out a definition of “97% reliable.”)
Toward the end of the meeting, board member John Eisenhut asked staff what lessons were learned.
Air board staffer Jennifer Gress said the first lesson is that “it's really hard to predict the future.” For example, she said, from the beginning “we didn't anticipate the need for maintenance and upgrades.”
