Astrid has a lead article in today’s Parknews Newsletter that expresses concern that EV charging stations can be hacked and through that hack, can collect user data, and even bring down the grid. Read all about it at Parknews.biz
This is not some JVH look out the window piece but is written by Sandia Labs after a four year study. That means that most likely its real. So where does that leave us. The study simply says that we are moving too fast, that EV charging companies are being incentivized to be first to market and get those chargers online. Adding high security takes time and costs money so it is being left by the wayside.
I know, I know – this is self serving for JVH since I have been saying for months, even years, that we are not letting the free market work, but are pushing much too fast on this EV program. We are leading technology by simply believing what ‘futurists’ are telling us and moving forward pall mall in spite of reality staring us in the face.
Parking Managers are telling me that not only are chargers becoming more expensive, but the cost of installation can and often is more than the cost of the charger. I was told just the other day that one manager simply would like to hire an electrical consulting engineer to give her a valid installation number before she started down this EV path. She then told me that those folks, ones who will actually commit to a number, are few and far between. She likened it to getting a price for home improvements, only to find when the walls are opened there is mold or rot that was unknown when the price was given.
Would it not make more sense to move slowly down this path. Allow technology, both in the EVs themselves and in chargers, to move up to the expectations of the garage operators and the driving public? I’m sure that the manufacturers will get there, I’m just not sure how long it will take.
I wonder if we aren’t in a VHS/Beta conundrum now. Will we make the right choice?
JVH
