The Case for Fast-Charging Depots at US Airports

INTRODUCTION

RMI forecasts the US transportation sector must reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by at least 45% by 2030 to achieve a 1.5°C climate-aligned future. Emissions reduction at this scale requires 70 million electric vehicles (EVs) on the road in the United States and a 20% reduction in vehicle miles traveled. Currently, most EV charging in the United States is level two (L2), typically between 7 kW and 19 kW, with charging units often installed in a private garage or at the workplace. Other charging levels available include slower level one (L1) chargers — a standard US wall outlet — and much faster level three (L3) chargers, also known as direct current fast-chargers (DCFC), which can deliver anywhere from 50 kW to 350 kW of power.^[1] Although L2 charging is ideal for drivers who have private parking, it is not sufficient to support a full transition to EVs.

That transition will require a much stronger fast-charging infrastructure available to the public, especially for commercial drivers, who drive much more than the average driver. Locations with continuous turnover of arriving and departing vehicles with short dwell times such as airports will also need to provide fast chargers. In fact, to power tens of millions of EVs, the United States will require 15 times the number of current chargers^[2] The more than 20,000 airports across the country can provide additional transportation services and support clean transportation by offering EV charging infrastructure for a broad range of drivers.^[3] To strengthen charging infrastructure effectively and in a timely manner, airports should work closely with their utilities to identify the range of possible infrastructure costs associated with an electrified future. Next, airports must follow the planning and permitting timing constraints of their utility to optimize the technical and business approach to meet demand while maintaining affordable charging prices. Considering that within one decade EVs will have 50% or more market share, what may seem to airports as a risky gamble today may well prove to be the bare minimum.

RMI modeled different ownership and operation models for a fast-charging hub at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) designed to support ridehail and taxi drivers. Through its analysis, RMI determined that there are numerous business model options that can result in an investment payback period of less than 10 years for the airport and the EV charging service providers (EVSPs). The studied models resulted in cost-effective charging prices for commercial ridehail and taxi drivers while also presenting a reasonable business case for the airport. The creation and development of fast-charging hubs require coordination and engagement with local utilities to identify upgrade costs across the range of potential electric capacity additions. Airports and utilities must also work together to ensure sufficient charging capacity to meet EV demand while maintaining an affordable charging price. Airports are well suited to host these multi-megawatt fast-charging hubs for the benefit of commercial drivers, public users, and the airports’ and EVSPs’ bottom lines. In this brief, we highlight how to approach planning and installation of new fast-charging hubs at US airports in a way that is financially viable.

US Airports Can Provide the Charging Infrastructure Needed to Increase EV Adoption

• MARKET AND POLICY TRENDS: Consumer Reports found that, as of the first quarter of 2021, 71% of Americans expressed some level of interest in buying or leasing an ^[4] Electric vehicles represented over 5% of total vehicle sales in the United States by the end of 2021.^[5] In the first quarter of 2022, US EV sales rose 60% even as overall new car sales dropped 18%.^[6] This trend of rising EV sales is expected to continue, driving down EV prices and total cost of ownership to the point that it could lead to upfront purchase price parity between EVs and internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles by 2030.^[7] In 2021, major US original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) General Motors and Ford Motor Company pledged to work toward 100% zero-emissions new car and van sales in leading markets by 2035.^[8] GM, Ford, and Stellantis announced a shared aspiration to achieve up to 50% annual EV sales by 2030 in the United States.^[9] The availability of charging infrastructure is critical to the EV transition.

The US federal government is preparing the country for this new and rapid rise in EV charging demand through the Department of Transportation’s (DOT’s) Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program. The NEVI Formula Program will provide funding to states to deploy EV charging stations along major highway corridors and establish an interconnected network that facilitates data collection, access, and reliability. Funding is available for up to 80% of eligible project costs ranging from EV charging station acquisition to installation and maintenance. To receive this funding, states submitted plans to the DOT and US Department of Energy Joint Office for review and public posting by August 1, 2022, describing how states intend to use NEVI funds. The Biden-Harris administration announced it approved the plans of all 50 states; Washington, DC; and Puerto Rico by the end of September 2022.^[10] The NEVI program requires that publicly available EV charging stations be built every 50 miles along designated Alternative Fuel Corridors and no more than one mile from the highway. The stations must have at least four ports, each capable of providing at least 150 kW simultaneously.^[11]

DOT will also establish a discretionary grant program by November 2022 focused on EV charging in rural and underserved communities.^[12]

• OPPORTUNITY: Any federal investment in EV charging infrastructure depends entirely on state plans for successful implementation and the maturity of their existing EV ecosystems. Ports and airports’ placement along transportation corridors and networks can contribute to the successful implementation of state EV charging plans. Given the high volume of ground-side traffic at airports, the proximity of some airports to EV charging deserts (large swaths of urban areas lacking public charging), and the regulatory requirements for vehicle electrification in certain states and jurisdictions, airports in the United States can play a key role in enabling accessible and affordable public EV charging.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Ongoing utility planning and engagement for existing and anticipated loads helps airports obtain the necessary electricity rate and capacity information to ensure upgrading this infrastructure is economically feasible. In fact, some airports have started adding up to ten 50-kW, 150-kW, and 350-kW fast chargers on-site (e.g., Boston Logan International Airport, JFK International Airport^[13]) or plan to install up to ten 50-kW fast chargers (e.g., Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and San Francisco International Airport). Building multi-megawatt depots at US airports will help overcome a significant barrier in EV charging accessibility.

A growing number of airports can build fast-charging hubs capable of meeting charging demand for EV drivers, including friends and family picking up passengers, ridehail drivers, taxi fleets, and more. An increasing number of government mandates and policies aiming to accelerate electrification of ridehail services can help. For example, California’s Clean Miles Standard (CMS) requires 90% of ridehail fleet miles to be electric by 2030. Trips to and from the airport are critical to a ridehail driver’s revenue; therefore, airports are especially well-positioned to support ridehail electrification by providing charging services to those who may have a limited amount of time on-site and a commercial need to charge their vehicles quickly.

Within the city of Los Angeles alone, meeting 2030 CMS targets will require between 110 and 240 MW of total dedicated charging capacity for ridehail drivers — three to six times the capacity of the entire public DCFC network in LA as of October 2020.^[15] RMI analysis indicates that meeting the CMS could require approximately 10 MW of fast charging capacity at LAX by 2030. At the time of RMI’s study, no US airport had installed or announced plans for charging infrastructure at a similar scale, with many citing electrical infrastructure capacity as a key barrier to the implementation of these plans.

BENEFITS: Fast-charging hubs at airports, which support high-mileage commercial ridehail drivers and taxis, help avoid tailpipe and upstream greenhouse gas emissions, and — through their ability to serve drivers of different income levels at its publicly accessible location — can provide lower-income community members with access to affordable public charging, especially when airports are in or adjacent to EV charging deserts.

Unfortunately, charging infrastructure is often inaccessible to lower-income communities.^[14] Furthermore, many organizations have reported on the challenges of providing at-home charging for those without private, off-street parking, such as residents of multi-unit dwellings like apartment complexes and row homes, where occupants cannot easily install their own chargers. This lack of charging access directly and disproportionately affects ridehail drivers, one of the primary types of commercial fleets doing business at US airports. A ridehail driver typically has a lower household income, does not have a lot of downtime during which to charge, and often does not have access to a private charger at night. A lack of accessible at-home charging forces ridehail drivers to rely heavily on public fast charging.^[15]

Airport fast-charging hubs will be a critical component if ridehail drivers are to switch to EVs. Airports can also make fast charging available to members of the public who may not have access to a charger in their neighborhood, home, or workplace and are driving to airports in EVs for short-term trips or pickups, or otherwise traveling along transportation corridors in the vicinity of the airport. Airport hubs adjacent to a charging desert — which are typically found in lower-income neighborhoods — can help improve charging access.

Well-Designed Airport Fast-Charging Hubs Can Be Financially Viable

• MARKET AND POLICY TRENDS: RMI benchmarked and surveyed 10 airports regarding their fast-charging project plans. Common challenges affecting the speed of airport EV adoption and infrastructure development include difficulty in:
  • Accurately evaluating campus-wide EV charging demand and on-site hosting capacity while considering varying state or local zero-emissions vehicle (ZEV) or GHG emissions reductions requirements; a lack of hosting capacity data availability; and a lack of standardized EV demand measurement tools
  • Obtaining project capital investment and managing operations and maintenance (O&M) costs due to varying pricing formula guidelines, cost estimate availability, and business model options
  • Coordinating and siting charging infrastructure in ways that accommodate multiple current and future use cases for a variety of airport visitors and on-site drivers; matching charger use case(s) to required power (e.g., L1 for long-term passenger parking or fast charging for ride hail drivers); and effectively engaging utility partners at the beginning of infrastructure planning
  • Future-proofing charging technology — for example, by installing additional electrical capacity or higher power chargers — to ensure long-term hub use through the next decade

Exhibit 1 summarizes the insights gleaned from RMI’s airport surveys. They are grouped by key themes including integrating procedural equity when developing charging plans or strategies; planning for electricity demand and capacity; recovering costs; establishing grid resiliency; and future-proofing technology.

Exhibit 1: RMI Insights by Opportunity