Additional Charging Stations in Florida

[benboy12]

Pretty cool news for those of us in FL, or who want to a trip to Disney.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/new...ing-stations-along-major-roadways/ar-BB16Amg6

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[JamieGeek]

Interesting in that "settlement funds from Volkswagon" is what created Electrify America...

 

[ChasingCoral]

Interesting in that "settlement funds from Volkswagon" is what created Electrify America...

Since it doesn't say, they probably are Electrify America.

 

[PS20221]

Although these Florida charging stations are not exclusive to FPL, I contacted them a couple months ago to inquire about local ev incentives and to check the status of charging stations along the turnpike as this has been in the works a while. This was their response:

Thank you for your inquiry regarding our exciting new infrastructure pilot program, FPL EVolution. Attached is the FPL EVolution fact sheet for your review.
The program began last year, 2019, and the four turnpike plazas located in FPL territory should be operational this year, 2020, if goes as planned.
The FPL EVolution chargers are a combination of Level 2 and fast charging at locations ranging from public, destination, workplace, to highway. A specific gas station hasn’t been selected as of yet.
We do not have an electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE)/home charger incentive at this time. Fortunately, FPL's rates are among the lowest in the nation. A typical 1000 miles per month driven would add about $35 per month to the residential electric bill. EV incentives and rates are continuously considered so if one should become available in the future, it will be communicated to our customers.

Please let me know if there are additional questions or if I can assist in the future.

Best Regards,

Beth Bowers
Electric Vehicle Specialist
Florida Power and Light Company
700 Universe Boulevard (B2C/JB)
Juno Beach, Florida 33408
(561)304-5670

 

[Fleuve]

Although these Florida charging stations are not exclusive to FPL, I contacted them a couple months ago to inquire about local ev incentives and to check the status of charging stations along the turnpike as this has been in the works a while. This was their response:

Thank you for your inquiry regarding our exciting new infrastructure pilot program, FPL EVolution. Attached is the FPL EVolution fact sheet for your review.
The program began last year, 2019, and the four turnpike plazas located in FPL territory should be operational this year, 2020, if goes as planned.
The FPL EVolution chargers are a combination of Level 2 and fast charging at locations ranging from public, destination, workplace, to highway. A specific gas station hasn’t been selected as of yet.
We do not have an electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE)/home charger incentive at this time. Fortunately, FPL's rates are among the lowest in the nation. A typical 1000 miles per month driven would add about $35 per month to the residential electric bill. EV incentives and rates are continuously considered so if one should become available in the future, it will be communicated to our customers.

Please let me know if there are additional questions or if I can assist in the future.

Best Regards,

Beth Bowers
Electric Vehicle Specialist
Florida Power and Light Company
700 Universe Boulevard (B2C/JB)
Juno Beach, Florida 33408
(561)304-5670

This is great. Do you have the FPL evolution fact sheet that she attached as well?

 

[PS20221]

This is great. Do you have the FPL evolution fact sheet that she attached as well?

 

[PS20221]

I found this more helpful, because I wanted to know where the new charging stations would being located.

https://www.teslaownersflorida.org/Public-News/9096785

 

[DaveQ]

Mon, Nov 9, 2020​

Thank you for your inquiry regarding BEV and Florida’s charging network.

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is currently working to finalize its EV master Plan Status Report which is due to Governor DeSantis on December 1, 2020.

FDOT is working very closely with the Public Service Commission and Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to develop the EV Master Plan to support short-range and long range electric vehicle travel, encourage the expansion of electric vehicle use in the state, and adequately serve evacuation routes. The EV Master Plan will be a useful tool for the state to prioritize the implementation of EV Infrastructure to enhance Florida's charging network for electric vehicles.

Thank you very much.

Jennifer Fortunas, P.E. Forecasting and Trends Office Manager Phone: 850-414-5396 Email:[email protected] 605 Suwannee Street, MS 28 Tallahassee, FL 32399 https://www.fdot.gov/planning/fto

 

[DaveQ]

Mon, Nov 9, 2020​

Thank you for your inquiry regarding BEV and Florida’s charging network.

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is currently working to finalize its EV master Plan Status Report which is due to Governor DeSantis on December 1, 2020.

FDOT is working very closely with the Public Service Commission and Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to develop the EV Master Plan to support short-range and long range electric vehicle travel, encourage the expansion of electric vehicle use in the state, and adequately serve evacuation routes. The EV Master Plan will be a useful tool for the state to prioritize the implementation of EV Infrastructure to enhance Florida's charging network for electric vehicles.

Thank you very much.

Jennifer Fortunas, P.E. Forecasting and Trends Office Manager Phone: 850-414-5396 Email:[email protected] 605 Suwannee Street, MS 28 Tallahassee, FL 32399 https://www.fdot.gov/planning/fto

The Florida EV Master Plan Status Report is available HERE: https://www.fdot.gov/planning/fto/ev/default

EVMP Status Report (12/01/2020)

 

[GrisGris]

The Florida EV Master Plan Status Report is available HERE: https://www.fdot.gov/planning/fto/ev/default

EVMP Status Report (12/01/2020)

Thanks for sharing this. That's an impressive amount of information conveyed in a fairly digestible manner. I guess we now wait until the next stage, in July. It'll be interesting to see which direction this primarily goes in terms of public/private underpinning for the siting. Regardless, it looks like more sites are certainly needed. I envisioning an exodus like we had for Irma. Yikes!

Will also be interesting to see what they decide in terms of keeping the highway fund going with less and less fossil fuel tax revenue.

 

[GrisGris]

Here's more news on the charging infrastructure front in Florida. Sen. Jeff Brandes is sponsoring a bill for an additional annual fee for electric ($135)/hybrid ($35) vehicles to support grants for private investment in fast charging stations around Florida, mainly at typical highway gas stations, it appears. Seems like an adult decision to me.

https://www.sayfiereview.com/page/proposal-would-plug-in-higher-fees-for-electric-vehicles

 

[UriahHeep]

So, they are going to charge us to give our money to a business to charge us more money? Explain please.
I charge primarily at home. Plus, Tesla already has its own infrastructure in place. If I do not use public chargers, why do I pay for them?

 

[GrisGris]

So, they are going to charge us to give our money to a business to charge us more money? Explain please.
I charge primarily at home. Plus, Tesla already has its own infrastructure in place. If I do not use public chargers, why do I pay for them?

Happy to attempt to help you understand, because I definitely get your skepticism.

As mentioned in the article, only about 1% of the vehicles on the road in Florida are electric (not sure whether that includes hybrid). That leaves very little incentive for gas stations to invest in installing and maintaining high quality (or any) charging stations.

So, the state, recognizing that we're going to be caught flat-footed when BEV usage seriously ramps up (and it WILL ramp up, fairly dramatically), and everyone will complain that they can't get from point A to B to C, or, worse, get out of the damn state when there's a mass evacuation like Irma, is actually trying to be proactive by incentivizing the infrastructure ahead of when it would make any monetary sense at all for private industry to invest in it.

Hope that helps.

 

[UriahHeep]

What happened to $166 million VW was supposed to pay Florida after emission scandal? Part of the money was supposed to go to EV charging infrastructure.
FPL has placed a few of fast charging stations along FL Turnpike already, so we can get out of state, as long as these stations work. Would be nice to see them along I-95 as well, but I prefer a business to install them and collect money instead of owners to foot the bill.

 

[GrisGris]

I am fairly certain that those Turnpike charging stations are being funded in full or in part by the VW settlement funds. Given that I'm never on the Turnpike, so it does me no good, I haven't paid close attention to that.

Totally agree, and that's where we'll end up some day, but until then, most businesses will have little incentive to bear the expense of installing and maintaining quality charging stations until there are more than .5% (got that wrong in my prior post) electric vehicles in Florida. Would you spend a couple hundred thousand (or whatever it is) on something for a few cars to come by and charge daily? And they have the conveniently located stations for this (other than the Turnpike and the like), not the government.

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