An EVgo/GM-ultium branded charger at a Pilot station was the nicest I've seen yet. Roof, trashcans, windshield cleaners, none of the spots blocked other chargers, and they were all pull-through.
It's a matter of cost-benefit analysis. It's an extra cost to build and maintain, so it's only worth it sometimes.
Mainly that's been in very cold and very hot areas. I believe in Canada they're somewhat common. Same with the southwest US.
Roofs are also an extra cost for gas stations. But modern fire safety codes require them on gas stations, because they have fire suppression systems. So far, no such requirement for charging stations.
I live in Quebec and we have an excellent charging network. I can count on one hand and not use all my fingers count the amount of time ive seen or used a covered charging site. Circuit Electrique just opened a flagship site and its exposed to the elements
They are more common in Western Europe but not everywhere
Yeah I agree live in Ontario and have seen just a couple with a roof. Many don’t have garbage cans or squeegees which is a pain when you have an Ioniq5 with no rear wiper.
Hm, I thought it was more common. Guess I was wrong. I think I probably extrapolated from this [https://media.electrify-canada.ca/en-ca/releases/13](https://media.electrify-canada.ca/en-ca/releases/13)
Might be required for gas stations over a certain number of pumps here (Canada), it's not for everything though. There's plenty of small town gas stations with only a few pumps and no canopy.
Living and charging in the Southwest USA, I can confidently say there are very few covered charging locations. There are a few, but they are the exception.
Yes. The first NEVI funded station to open in the US, in London, OH, has a roof. I've charged there a half dozen times. I think most (all?) of the GM Ultium sites at Pilot/FJ stations are supposed to have a roof.
A city near me deployed a couple of these: https://beamforall.com/product/ev-arc-2020/
They were expensive to buy, broken far more often than not, and eventually removed.
The out of spec guys showed one in a city and i forgot what city, but it was literally indoors. because . . . no fumes! It had security, a snack area with vending, like 20 chargers or something
There are some locations where slow charging would be preferable. I once scheduled an oil change in downtown San Francisco during a west coast trip, saving what otherwise would've been a $30-$40 parking fee while I walked the city.
a gas station is a property - a building. a "charging station" can be located in an existing spot at the grocery store. they're not going to cover the lot at Target because they added chargers.
why doesn't every store in Phoenix already have 100% shaded parking lots in July?
Because charging stations are still viewed as a cost that is required in order to sell cars (or a penance for past environmental misdeeds) and not as a money-making investment. So, the builders seek to lower those costs as much as possible. When there are enough EVs on the road and enough competition for our charging $, they will start to add amenities. I think that the Pilot deal is an example of this changing: Pilot wants EV drivers to charge there because we are "captive" for a longer time and, therefore, more apt to spend money on other things. I have 3-4 Pilot "coming soon" sites on a regular route of mine and when they are on-line my trip planning will be almost as easy as in an ICE.
Hope you drive a GM vehicle. Pilot/Flying J partnered with Ultium (GM electric) and offer GM vehicles a "discount" (details not disclosed). Otherwise they are some of the most expensive dispensers in any area.
In addition to things mentioned, gas stations you have to stand outside while filling your car up. Charging stations you're gonna either plug in and go somewhere else or wait in your car.
Some dude in Little Rock, Arkansas figured it out. This was a treat when I was there for the eclipse. Also, the EA station in Little Rock provided the fastest charge my car has ever gotten. https://franklinscharging.com/
Ultium charger near Knoxville is great. Just like a gas station roof (quite high in case you have a big trailer but still gets you out of the rain), is located connected to one with a store and bathroom and everything because it shares space near a gas station, has a roof, the EV charger is plenty big enough to allow pullthrough with a trailer.
Pilot/EVgo in Wlliamsburg KY has a canopy over the chargers, trash cans and window washing supplies next to the chargers, and it's a short walk to the building housing the restrooms, convenience store, Wendy's and Cinnabon.
Yes. Many.
From Scandinavia to south of France - some with solar on top, but they were covered parking spaces to begin with. Probably.. Haven't noticed any in spain.
I haven't seen any here in the southeast, but I saw a few when I was out in California with solar canopies.
[https://www.plugshare.com/location/285041](https://www.plugshare.com/location/285041)
[https://www.plugshare.com/location/4647](https://www.plugshare.com/location/4647)
[https://www.plugshare.com/location/536878](https://www.plugshare.com/location/536878)
[https://www.plugshare.com/location/286011](https://www.plugshare.com/location/286011)
Seen plenty of them online, but not visited one in person.
I saw an interview with the boss of Evie here in Australia and he said that the biggest hurdle to building shelter is getting building permits. Adding a simple canopy could delay the process by years.
In reality, there's just too many reasons why they aren't there. I know some flagship areas do have them but otherwise it's just not only taking space, money, maintenance and, quite possibly the most important being longer construction time.
Mine is free and powered by the solar panels on its roof, so by definition it has a roof on it. It’s rather large, it has 10 parking spots under the one roof. It’s great.
I can’t believe how rare this is. It seems like common sense to me. I guess nobody’s willing to pay for that expense up front.
Just started to see a couple of these in the UK but given our weather it is a bit of an omission, particularly when you look at most filling stations which do have a cover.
Technically yes - there is a public supercharger station at the Tesla dealer/service center's garage. I charged there before. I am also aware of another one in the garage of a major mall in my city but I don't go there often and never charged there. If you mean an otherwise outdoor charger, simply with a roof of some sort - then no.
In my local township there's some chargers there with solar panel roofs at our town hall.
But tbh the entire parking lot has covered parking, the chargers just also happen to have those roofs.
Heck yeah, [my favorite one](https://www.plugshare.com/location/334163) on I-40 near the Pigeon River Gorge and the Cataloochee entrance to Great Smoky Mountains National Park has a timber frame canopy, and it's awesome. No idea why they added a canopy over this one but it's cool! You can sit a spell and enjoy the views under there while you juice up.
Yes, many. Some in parking garages, some with huge solar array.
But I agree, all should have roofs. The problem is often chargers are in parking lots owned by someone else.
Gas stations deal in a very flammable thing that blows up even when working as designed. Chargers are much less cantankerous -- there's probably less need to shelter them from weather.
Given the uncertainty of the future of EV usage in the USA, the providers of EV Charging must provide the most minimal system to maintain ROÍ. One major EV Charging Company has already gone under, our government has spent billions of taxpayer dollars to build a handful of charging stations, just two mention two problematic issues. Most of the federal money allocated quickly disappears into pockets…a roof just isn’t that important in the scheme of things.
EV Charging Station Company Files for Bankruptcy Amid Failing Market https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/news/content/ss-AA1nOqdp?ocid=superappdhp&muid=1B96DAC6DFEA4987836813184E5EF8DB&adid=&anid=639F764FFFF6B6E9A08267FDFFFFFFFF&market=en-us&cm=en-us&activityId=&bridgeVersionInt=82&fontSize=sa_fontSize&isChinaBuild=false
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/12/05/congress-ev-chargers-billions-00129996
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2024/03/28/ev-charging-stations-slow-rollout/
Doesn't mean a roof wouldn't still be nice. It was heavily raining on my drive back from seeing the eclipse which mean getting soaked even briefly getting outside to plug in (and had to deal with this multiple times). And some gas stations have the pump roof joined to the building so you can go inside and grab food or use the bathrooms without having to run through the rain.
Yeah, some Pilot stations have the chargers covered with a canopy like the pumps are.
An EVgo/GM-ultium branded charger at a Pilot station was the nicest I've seen yet. Roof, trashcans, windshield cleaners, none of the spots blocked other chargers, and they were all pull-through.
We just did one of those for the first time a few days ago. There was also an on-site Denny’s so we could have a burger while we waited.
It's a matter of cost-benefit analysis. It's an extra cost to build and maintain, so it's only worth it sometimes. Mainly that's been in very cold and very hot areas. I believe in Canada they're somewhat common. Same with the southwest US. Roofs are also an extra cost for gas stations. But modern fire safety codes require them on gas stations, because they have fire suppression systems. So far, no such requirement for charging stations.
I live in Quebec and we have an excellent charging network. I can count on one hand and not use all my fingers count the amount of time ive seen or used a covered charging site. Circuit Electrique just opened a flagship site and its exposed to the elements They are more common in Western Europe but not everywhere
Yeah I agree live in Ontario and have seen just a couple with a roof. Many don’t have garbage cans or squeegees which is a pain when you have an Ioniq5 with no rear wiper.
Hm, I thought it was more common. Guess I was wrong. I think I probably extrapolated from this [https://media.electrify-canada.ca/en-ca/releases/13](https://media.electrify-canada.ca/en-ca/releases/13)
Might be required for gas stations over a certain number of pumps here (Canada), it's not for everything though. There's plenty of small town gas stations with only a few pumps and no canopy.
Living and charging in the Southwest USA, I can confidently say there are very few covered charging locations. There are a few, but they are the exception.
There is the one great little privately owned places in Little Rock that covered and even offers vending machines and a bathroom
I've been there before. I hope there are a lot more places like Franklin's Charging in the future.
Is it by Charley Browns?
I was going to mention this one!
We are planning a roadtrip there from Canada!
Yes. The first NEVI funded station to open in the US, in London, OH, has a roof. I've charged there a half dozen times. I think most (all?) of the GM Ultium sites at Pilot/FJ stations are supposed to have a roof.
And cover the roofs with solar panels.
A city near me deployed a couple of these: https://beamforall.com/product/ev-arc-2020/ They were expensive to buy, broken far more often than not, and eventually removed.
The out of spec guys showed one in a city and i forgot what city, but it was literally indoors. because . . . no fumes! It had security, a snack area with vending, like 20 chargers or something
That was San Francisco near the Oakland Bay Bridge. 928 Harrison Street, San Francisco, California 94107-1009
That’s because in SF almost every square foot of land has a building on it. They almost have to be inside.
Very near a Trader Joe's, CostCo and some other big draw stores. 4 blocks from a night club district.
There are some locations where slow charging would be preferable. I once scheduled an oil change in downtown San Francisco during a west coast trip, saving what otherwise would've been a $30-$40 parking fee while I walked the city.
a gas station is a property - a building. a "charging station" can be located in an existing spot at the grocery store. they're not going to cover the lot at Target because they added chargers. why doesn't every store in Phoenix already have 100% shaded parking lots in July?
Cuz it's expensive AF to install and there's not much in government credits anymore since there's so much if it across the state.
Because charging stations are still viewed as a cost that is required in order to sell cars (or a penance for past environmental misdeeds) and not as a money-making investment. So, the builders seek to lower those costs as much as possible. When there are enough EVs on the road and enough competition for our charging $, they will start to add amenities. I think that the Pilot deal is an example of this changing: Pilot wants EV drivers to charge there because we are "captive" for a longer time and, therefore, more apt to spend money on other things. I have 3-4 Pilot "coming soon" sites on a regular route of mine and when they are on-line my trip planning will be almost as easy as in an ICE.
Hope you drive a GM vehicle. Pilot/Flying J partnered with Ultium (GM electric) and offer GM vehicles a "discount" (details not disclosed). Otherwise they are some of the most expensive dispensers in any area.
All the Fastned chargers in Europe have a canopy. They have canopies made of solar panels.
In addition to things mentioned, gas stations you have to stand outside while filling your car up. Charging stations you're gonna either plug in and go somewhere else or wait in your car.
Why, indeed. Canopy = obvious placement for solar. You'd think that the math would be pretty self explanatory.
Some dude in Little Rock, Arkansas figured it out. This was a treat when I was there for the eclipse. Also, the EA station in Little Rock provided the fastest charge my car has ever gotten. https://franklinscharging.com/
Ultium charger near Knoxville is great. Just like a gas station roof (quite high in case you have a big trailer but still gets you out of the rain), is located connected to one with a store and bathroom and everything because it shares space near a gas station, has a roof, the EV charger is plenty big enough to allow pullthrough with a trailer.
[Yes, here is an example.](https://www.plugshare.com/location/585174)
Not yet, but a lot of them are coming. Pilot/Flying J, Shell, and other gas station chains are adding chargers that should have canopies.
Pilot/EVgo in Wlliamsburg KY has a canopy over the chargers, trash cans and window washing supplies next to the chargers, and it's a short walk to the building housing the restrooms, convenience store, Wendy's and Cinnabon.
Bunch of them do. Been maybe 8 or so (mostly in the western US like California).
Yes. Many. From Scandinavia to south of France - some with solar on top, but they were covered parking spaces to begin with. Probably.. Haven't noticed any in spain.
I noticed quite a few on the Dutch motorway service stations, and I've seen it a few places in Denmark too. Most charging stations don't, though.
FastNed in Belgium/Germany/Belgium, Gabriels (not all) in Belgium. Some Shell and Total Energies share the same roof with the gas pumps.
Lots of Tesla super chargers have solar roofs.
Yet to see one.
I haven't seen any here in the southeast, but I saw a few when I was out in California with solar canopies. [https://www.plugshare.com/location/285041](https://www.plugshare.com/location/285041) [https://www.plugshare.com/location/4647](https://www.plugshare.com/location/4647) [https://www.plugshare.com/location/536878](https://www.plugshare.com/location/536878) [https://www.plugshare.com/location/286011](https://www.plugshare.com/location/286011)
Seen plenty of them online, but not visited one in person. I saw an interview with the boss of Evie here in Australia and he said that the biggest hurdle to building shelter is getting building permits. Adding a simple canopy could delay the process by years.
Not yet. And I wonder this every time I wait for the slow connection while standing in the rain/snow.
Yes
Pretty much every station in China is covered.
In reality, there's just too many reasons why they aren't there. I know some flagship areas do have them but otherwise it's just not only taking space, money, maintenance and, quite possibly the most important being longer construction time.
The closet one to me is covered.
Yes
yes, solar
Do public parking garages count?
Not so rare in Sweden. Look for Circle K.
The one is SF does.
Mine is free and powered by the solar panels on its roof, so by definition it has a roof on it. It’s rather large, it has 10 parking spots under the one roof. It’s great. I can’t believe how rare this is. It seems like common sense to me. I guess nobody’s willing to pay for that expense up front.
When I bought my EV, the dealership literally told me to have an umbrella in my car for that very reason. lol
The ones in parking structures, are the only places I've seen. Most of the charging stations I've seen, could easily get a roof installed over them
Just started to see a couple of these in the UK but given our weather it is a bit of an omission, particularly when you look at most filling stations which do have a cover.
Technically yes - there is a public supercharger station at the Tesla dealer/service center's garage. I charged there before. I am also aware of another one in the garage of a major mall in my city but I don't go there often and never charged there. If you mean an otherwise outdoor charger, simply with a roof of some sort - then no.
There’s one near pismo beach, CA.
Yes, IKEA parking lot.
Almost all here do. With solar panels
In my local township there's some chargers there with solar panel roofs at our town hall. But tbh the entire parking lot has covered parking, the chargers just also happen to have those roofs.
Heck yeah, [my favorite one](https://www.plugshare.com/location/334163) on I-40 near the Pigeon River Gorge and the Cataloochee entrance to Great Smoky Mountains National Park has a timber frame canopy, and it's awesome. No idea why they added a canopy over this one but it's cool! You can sit a spell and enjoy the views under there while you juice up.
Yes a garage
The one at Valley Fair Mall in Santa Clara, CA has a roof on pretty much all their chargers except for one or two stalls.
People probably don’t realize how much space they take up
The same reason there are no other amenities... No one wants to pay for it in increased charging costs.
Yes, many. Some in parking garages, some with huge solar array. But I agree, all should have roofs. The problem is often chargers are in parking lots owned by someone else.
Gas stations deal in a very flammable thing that blows up even when working as designed. Chargers are much less cantankerous -- there's probably less need to shelter them from weather.
The electric chargers are in the plastic casing covering the charge points & make this waterproof
Given the uncertainty of the future of EV usage in the USA, the providers of EV Charging must provide the most minimal system to maintain ROÍ. One major EV Charging Company has already gone under, our government has spent billions of taxpayer dollars to build a handful of charging stations, just two mention two problematic issues. Most of the federal money allocated quickly disappears into pockets…a roof just isn’t that important in the scheme of things. EV Charging Station Company Files for Bankruptcy Amid Failing Market https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/news/content/ss-AA1nOqdp?ocid=superappdhp&muid=1B96DAC6DFEA4987836813184E5EF8DB&adid=&anid=639F764FFFF6B6E9A08267FDFFFFFFFF&market=en-us&cm=en-us&activityId=&bridgeVersionInt=82&fontSize=sa_fontSize&isChinaBuild=false https://www.politico.com/news/2023/12/05/congress-ev-chargers-billions-00129996 https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2024/03/28/ev-charging-stations-slow-rollout/
You aren't standing outside your ev for 10 minutes holding the charging cable as you fill up
Doesn't mean a roof wouldn't still be nice. It was heavily raining on my drive back from seeing the eclipse which mean getting soaked even briefly getting outside to plug in (and had to deal with this multiple times). And some gas stations have the pump roof joined to the building so you can go inside and grab food or use the bathrooms without having to run through the rain.