Approximately 56,000 Electric Vehicles are currently registered in NYC, with projections indicating that this number will surpass 150,000 by 2030 across the five boroughs, as the costs of new EVs decline in price. Given that the majority of New York City residents reside in multifamily dwellings, the task of installing chargers in close proximity to drivers' homes presents a considerable challenge.
Among the options for EV charging are street-side charging, utilizing private garage spaces, or accessing charger stations where available. However, the latter poses challenges, much like the scarcity of gas stations in New York City due to the high cost of real estate, making profitability elusive.
To make it easier to drive EVs in the NYC metro area, 1000's of DCFC charging stations will need to be constructed. Considering all the options available, professional sport stadium's and horse racetrack's parking lots provide the most efficient solution.
Citi Field, Yankee Stadium and UBS Arena's parking lots sit empty most days of the year. And, importantly for EV charging they have a lot of power capacity and parking capacity, making them ideal places to build out DCFC charger stations, which require large amounts of electrical power to quickly charge cars.
It’s takes over 30 million Kilowatt (kWh) hours to power a baseball stadium for an entire season. This is enough electricity supply to power approximately 3,000 homes for a year or more than 600,000 charging sessions for electric vehicles, assuming an average 50-kilowatt hours of charging per session. Getting the infrastructure in place to provide this much power is no small feat.
Given the built-out power capacity is sitting idle for most days of the year, there is likely no better location for expanding DCFC charging stations than the parking lots of the Mets, Yankees, and Islanders stadiums, as well as the two major horse tracks in town, Belmont Park and Aqueduct Racetrack.
UBS Arena previously announced plans to install 1,000 EV chargers in its parking lot. However, the execution of this project never materialized. On the positive front, charging technology has improved, so if such a project is built out today, it will deliver greater value.
With EV adoption poised to skyrocket, there's no better moment than the present to kickstart these projects. The funding is already secured, as New York is slated to receive over $175 million from the federal government's Infrastructure Investment Bill. This allocation is specifically designated to finance the establishment of a comprehensive national EV Charging Network. (H.R.3684 - Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act)
New York state can effortlessly install 250+ DCFC chargers in each of the stadium and racetrack parking lots for a fraction of the cost required for a fresh start. This is because the most challenging aspect, the electrical upgrades and wiring, has already been completed.
250 DCFC chargers pale in comparison to the colossal charging infrastructure under construction in China, a nation surging ahead in EV adoption. Take the cutting-edge metropolis of Shenzhen, a beacon of technological advancement, where the scale and speed of progress of electric vehicle is leading the world
A DCFC charging station is up and running in Shenzhen that can rapidly charge 637 vehicles at the same time. The record setting Shenzhen EV Charging Station can charge up to 5,000 electric vehicles, ranging from taxis to delivery trucks, delivering a daily total of 160-MWh of energy. This accumulates to nearly 60,000 Megawatt-hours a year, which works out to twice the power consumption of sports complexes across the U.S.
"The 637 Port Rapid Charging Station in Shenzhen provides an example of what can be accomplished. Offering inspiration for New York and other major cities to boldly build out EV charging projects"