California EV Charging Regulations Don’t Forbid Per-Minute But Are Still Dumb ‘Gasoline Thinking’

The Electric vehicle world has been abuzz about reports that new California regulations, adopted just two weeks ago and in theory coming into effect Jan 1 will:

1. Forbid billing by the minute for charging, as EVgo and others currently do.
2. Require displays on all chargers like a gas pump, showing price, plus the cost and amount of energy dispensed, as Tesla doesn’t do at superchargers.

Fortunately, if you read the regulations and statement of reasons correctly, there is no panic:

1. The regulations don’t apply to existing chargers (nor chargers installed in the next 1-3 years) until 2033.
2. The regulations only block billing by the minute for the energy. They allow billing by the minute or session for time in the charging space, for example.

As such, there is no big change coming soon. Nonetheless, the regulations do deserve some criticism, for they reflect 20th century “gasoline thinking” and ignore just how different electricity is as a “motor fuel” compared to gasoline.