An 8 stall Tesla charging station has a throughput of ~24 cars per hour. A 4 lane interstate can handle ~8k per hour. So, to support peak throughput between cities, you'd need ~2700 stalls every 100 miles or so. But this assumes 100% EVs. With current growth projections, we'd half this ~12 years from now. That seems completely doable, tbh.
Cost is an interesting issue. Capital costs aren't particularly excessive, at <$1M for a typical station. Ongoing costs are dominated by demand charges rather than usage charges. Demand charges amortize better as utilization increases. If anything, today might be the peak for DCFC cost as better utilization makes lower prices potentially profitable.
And, of course, the bulk of charging is always at home or a workplace on L2. TBH, people underestimate fixed costs in our grid today. It isn't clear what will happen, but I wouldn't bet on increased utilization automatically leading to higher rates.
EDIT: The above DCFC analysis assumes that 100% of those vehicles will need to charge. My guess is that this is radically high, even for big travel days. Real world might need a lot fewer stalls than that.
My electricity as $/kwh has gone down over the past 10 years. All else being equal, my bill stayed the same. That's because the fixed $/month for maintenance _doubled_.
I've since added an EV increasing my usage. It costs less than it would have 10 years ago. I've seen the same thing playing out with other utilities in my state and across the country.
Increased kwh consumption with relatively flat peak demand[1] means that the fixed costs of running and maintaining utilities is a smaller overall percentage of energy costs. OTOH, increased demand drives higher prices which is a conflicting factor. At DCFC it is pretty easy to work this out, as good utilization always helps. At residences, the impacts are far less clear.
[1] Interestingly, the bulk of EV charging is effectively addressable demand. We are already seeing a lot of utility experimentation in this area.
Cost is an interesting issue. Capital costs aren't particularly excessive, at <$1M for a typical station. Ongoing costs are dominated by demand charges rather than usage charges. Demand charges amortize better as utilization increases. If anything, today might be the peak for DCFC cost as better utilization makes lower prices potentially profitable.
And, of course, the bulk of charging is always at home or a workplace on L2. TBH, people underestimate fixed costs in our grid today. It isn't clear what will happen, but I wouldn't bet on increased utilization automatically leading to higher rates.
EDIT: The above DCFC analysis assumes that 100% of those vehicles will need to charge. My guess is that this is radically high, even for big travel days. Real world might need a lot fewer stalls than that.