It ain’t easy for BEVs in Rochester

As I approached Thruway exit 45 to Rochester I had a bout of range anxiety and pulled into the Seneca Thruway rest area. I’d never stopped at an Applegreen because I hate the too-cute name. But I wasn’t interest in the food or the restrooms; I was searching for a row of fast DC electric car chargers near the back of the parking lot. I was running dangerously low and a quick boost would give me enough range to get to Rochester where, I assumed, there were chargers everywhere.

After all, Rochester, my hometown, is a high-tech city with plenty of Teslas and other EVs prowling the streets. Statistics are always out of date, but at least 10,200 EVs are registered in Monroe County. More than Syracuse, more than Albany, and about tied with Buffalo. Predictably, they are gathered in higher income suburbs like Webster, Pittsford, and Fairport. Many may be PHEVs (plug-in hybrids), but an increasing number are all-electric BEVs (battery electric vehicle). Mine is a BEV.

After a steak dinner at Charley Brown’s with one of my nephews, I began hunting for another fast charger to “fill up” my new 2027 Chevy Bolt. I wanted a small EV SUV and it’s a perfect size for me. Even though I bought it only weeks before, Chevy proclaims my car is the “Bolt 2027,” along with declaring that it is a “limited edition” out of production after 2027. This is like telling you to buy a horse that will die in two years. Or perhaps they hope it will age like a good vintage wine.

I sat in my car outside Charley Brown’s scanning charging apps on my phone, as other patrons left and the parking lot was suddenly empty. I was beginning to sweat. “Range anxiety” is a condition known to EV drivers when you realize you badly need a charge. It is akin to setting out on a road trip in 1920 and never knowing if there is a gasoline “filling station” up ahead.

I had loaded half a dozen EV charge location apps on my phone, but now they were all saying the same: there was one in Webster, (West Herr Auto, 350 kW) one in Greece (Bill Gray’s on Latta Road), one in Henrietta (RIT Conference Center). There are a lot of lower-power EV chargers around Rochester, but not so many fast DC chargers that will run at speeds of 250 kW or more. Most chargers at motels, malls and supermarkets across Monroe County are too slow. They just won’t make it with my car unless I want to sleep all night in the back seat.

The lack of fast DC chargers is not for lack of desire. Upgrading these chargers, if at all possible, is a major expense. Three phase power feeds, major utility grid connections, digging up pavement, adding a cooling system—all must be factored in.

In January 2025, the Biden administration announced a $635 million grant to built 11,500 charging stations. The press swallowed it whole. Nobody asked, how fast? Can they be upgraded? How robust is the power available? Will there be a standard plug receptacle? One lesson we all should know from high school physics: Kilowatts is the measure of power, but amperage is the measure of current. Volts x amps = kilowatts. Fast DC chargers need not only high voltage but a high amperage rate. Building out a national system is very complicated.

China has long overtaken us in EVs and fast charging. Part of this is a future-thinking mindset, but the more important fact is China does not produce enough oil for its needs. When you’re the world’s No. 1 oil importer, EVs start looking good. China has the edge on price and design—what Detroit used to call “flash and trash.” Though reviews note they don’t put in enough cup holders for Americans. Europe also imports most of its oil. EVs are swarming in from China so quickly that, combined with the fallout of U.S. tariffs, stodgy design and high prices, Volkswagen announced that is cutting 50,000 more jobs and discontinuing several models. We have oil, so our pace of transition is more leisurely.

I needed a fast DC charger that would fill my battery in 20 minutes or so. Most of Rochester’s chargers are back in the charging stone age. Even Wegman’s Pittsford store, the flagship of the chain, has only (at this writing) two chargers, both rated at 50 kW. Good enough to charge a plug-in PHEV, but not a BEV. Miracle of miracles, the competition down Monroe Avenue, Whole Foods, has two 250 kW chargers out back of the store. I headed over there. I was in luck: one of the chargers was available while the other one was occupied, sucking up a charge while the owner shopped.

Only owning the car a few weeks, I had not figured out how to recharge more than 40%, and I had about 20% left in the battery. There is a thermometer-type gauge that shows the charge time and limit. I charged twice: 40%, then a repeat. I settled back for what I thought was about a half hour. Fifteen minutes later, the woman charging the other car came back with an armload of groceries. We exchanged a few words and I told her of my experience and that I was now trying to charge to 100%. She shook her head: “Hope you brought a book.”

After 80% the thermometer graph began to crawl. Turns out electric battery cars are programmed to slow charge for the last 20%. This is to protect the battery from overcharging.  It’s similar to when you give the gas station clerk $20 and then walk out to fill your tank. When the gauge gets to about $18 it slows to a crawl so as not to give you more than you paid for.

One misconception of non-electric drivers is that charge stations are in gas stations. Generally, this is not so. Gas stations sell gas. They don’t need a group of non-gas buyers taking up parking spaces and using the restrooms. The places that do need the business are convenience stores, grocery stores and shopping malls. These are places that want you to spend your half hour of leisure browsing and buying.

My 100% charge took about an hour (my Bolt charges at up to 350 kW with a range of about 270 miles). The standard on-the-road charge, I learned, was 80%. I soon figured out, with the help of Google AI, how to move the thermometer gauge to “80.” I also learned to scroll to the bottom of the Tesla app where it tells you if chargers at your location will charge non-Tesla cars. Some still do not, but I think the company is trying to upgrade them.

An 80% charge takes about 20 to 30 minutes. A lot longer than filling up at a gas pump, but much more neighborly. When you fill up at a pump, there is often someone on the other side of the bay, a few feet from you, also filling up. Do you ever speak to them? By contrast, charging people are generally friendly. Some eat their picnic lunch, others talk about road conditions.

The drive home to Pennsylvania included more range anxiety at Binghamton. Thank you, Johnson City, and Tesla, for the row of 325 kW chargers behind BJ’s Warehouse Club.

With all the problems I experienced you might ask, “Why buy an EV?”

Let me check off the reasons NOT too:

■ $7,500 tax credit: gone. But most people forget it was a tax credit, not a bonus for buying. If you didn’t have taxes to apply against it, it was valueless.

■ Range: at 270 miles it’s great for city driving but a little short for the road.

■ Save money on gas: here’s the one everyone talks about but no one understands. Charging at roadside charging stations is not free; it averages around 50 cents a kilowatt. I was shocked when I got my credit card bill. The price is approximately the same as gas (at $4 a gallon).

The exception is if you have a 240 volt home charger (around $750 installed). All EVs have controls to start charging when power is cheapest. Mine usually beings about 1 a.m., when the local power company charges about 8.67 cents per kilowatt on a time-of-day rate. For 70 kilowatt hours full charge, it should cost around $6 from empty to a “full tank” (figure the equivalent of 12 gallons for a full tank in a compact SUV)). That’s like buying regular gas at 50 cents a gallon—-a price not seen since the 1970s.

■ Road use tax: Rochesterians have a bargain with this one. New York does not yet charge a user tax for EVs. But in Pennsylvania (where I live), the state bills me $250 a year because I am using the roads and not paying the gas tax (works out to about 12,000 miles—the average most people drive).

On the other side of the equation, EVs need no maintenance except rotating the tires, checking the brakes, and changing the windshield wipers. My manual lists the first real maintenance at 150,000 miles or five years—and that is just to drain and refill the coolant circuits.

I wish Rochester, always a high-tech leader, had more 250 kW and 350 kW charging sites to offer. Maybe the local visitor’s bureau needs their own app to encourage recharging sites. But then, it would be out-of-date in a month. The Volvo EX 60 and the BMW iX3 already charge up to 400 kW. Both are in the $60,000 range. Next year, the Ford Fathom Pickup EV will sell for around $30,000 (same as my Bolt) with an optional battery range of 300 miles and fast charging.

Rochester could be grabbing the future by heralding a new electric era. If we fast-track building out a DC charging network, we have a unique range advantages because we are the “10-minute city.” According to U.S. Census Bureau statistics, 86% of Monroe County residents drive to work and the average commute time is less than 21 minutes. 

U.S. Department of Energy statistics for the U.S. (2024) show that 73.1% of vehicle trips are under 10 miles. Additionally, 52% of all trips including all modes of transportation in the U.S. were under three miles.

I’ve listed all the reasons not to buy an EV. Here’s the most important reason to own one: you will love it.

It is the best driving experience I can remember since my MG-A sports car in college. My MG was fire engine red, my Bolt is hot habanero orange. The Bolt can’t downshift in tunnels like the MG could (with its Abarth muffler blasting bup-bup-bup-bup). But there’s nothing like streaking silently along the Thruway, reminding myself to keep it under 80. When I start up a hill or need to pass a string of trucks—wow. Blast off. Who says you’ve got to be young to enjoy warp speed acceleration?

Robert Lovenheim is a township supervisor in Pennsylvania and a former Rochesterian.

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