Will This Idea Drastically Improve The EV Experience?

Nov. 28, 2015 4:45 AM ET by Gabriel Eum Industry News / 9 Comments

Maybe not but it's a good place to start.

Electric cars are on the come up. Just look at Tesla's Model S and X along with the BMW i3 and what some tuning companies have done to them. However, there is a problem; electric vehicle owners can't really charge their cars on the go because there aren't many charging stations as there are gas stations. Also, according to Green Car Reports, "because the national charging infrastructure is run by multiple independent companies, drivers have to carry many cards to get access into all charging stations," which is pretty tough.

Electric car drivers should be able to charge their cars like how other drivers can pop up to a gas station and simply refuel. To fix all of this, a new partnership has been made between stakeholders at the 2015 Los Angeles Motor Show. Called the ROEV Association, it consists of BMW, Nissan, and charging network operators CarCharging/Blink, ChargePoint and NRG EVgo. ROEV chairman Simon Lonsdale plans to "streamline EV charging access across multiple charging networks in order to help bring EVs further into the mainstream." Basically, a single card for operating access for around 91 percent of all charging stations is the solution. It's like paying for food at a store with a credit card.

But, will this help electric vehicle owners who aren't pushing Teslas deal with range anxiety? Could it make electric cars more practical daily drivers? We like the idea but we're going to have to see what people say about it once this idea is out in the real world.