A curious sight has started to appear around Pittsburgh over the past few years — extension cords flopped across sidewalks, some covered with brightly colored cable ramps similar to those used at concerts and big events. Look around and you may see a cord plugged into an electric vehicle, most likely a Tesla, parked on the street.
The cords signal a growing shift toward electric vehicles — or EVs — motivated by drivers concerned about rising fuel prices and contributing to climate change with gas-powered combustion engines. Pittsburgh has become part of this trend, and the city, both in the private and public sectors, has stepped in to serve EV owners, with parking garages, grocery store chains, gas stations, and fast-food restaurants installing charging stations where drivers can “refuel.”
But while local EV drivers can plug in on the go, charging at home has become another story, particularly for those in urban residential neighborhoods where access to garages or driveways comes at a premium — hence the extension cords stretching from a driver’s home to their EV. The issue becomes more complicated when considering certain factors, including the city’s aging infrastructure, the types of residencies where drivers live, and how to ensure EV resources are available to everyone.
John Patrick — who requested to go by his first and middle name only — bought his used Tesla in 2020 as a way to make extra cash doing rideshare services through Uber. At the time, he says he took his Infiniti QX80 luxury SUV into a Monroeville dealership, where they expressed confusion over his wanting to trade such an exquisite vehicle in for an EV.
“That car was beautiful. You should have seen the dealers looking at me like I was crazy trading it in for this electric. And next thing you know, all the gas prices went up and people were like, ‘Oh, man, this [Tesla] is the most beautiful car in the world,’” he tells Pittsburgh City Paper with a laugh.
John, who lives in Morningside, explains that, while the car has served him well over the last few years, it came with a few headaches. His home, which he says was built in the 1920s, lacked the capacity to effectively power both his home and his car. Rather than rewire his entire house, as one electrician suggested, he purchased a small Quick 220 converter box that he says allows him to charge the car without the constant risk of blowing a fuse.
As opposed to miles per gallon, John goes by miles per hour, explaining that, with his rig, his Tesla will charge up to 12 miles in an hour, taking about 10 hours total overnight. That’s enough, he says, to make up for the average 120 miles he drives for Uber in a single night.
John does wonder if having an extension cord on the sidewalk poses any risks, adding that he never charges during rainstorms to avoid any possible safety hazards. In the few years since acquiring the vehicle, though, he says no one has complained to him about the cord being there.
By 2030, Duquesne Light looks to enable grid infrastructure that would serve 50,000 total EV owners like John in the Pittsburgh region. This is according to Matt McDonald, who serves as the public utility’s senior transportation electrification associate.
Currently, McDonald says EV drivers are permitted to use sidewalk-crossing extension cords or charging cables as long as it’s done in a “safe manner.” He cites how the Pittsburgh Department of Mobility and Infrastructure provided a list of best practices for home-charging EVs in this way, which includes placing a cover over the cord to prevent tripping or inconveniencing any pedestrians using the sidewalk.
Even with the permission to use cords, another concern surfaces in a city notorious for its parking chairs.
“There are some people even still that might not have a dedicated on-street parking space in front of their house,” says McDonald. “So that might not be an option for them to be able to extend that cord over the public right-of-way. So it’s important that we’re also thinking about those customers as well.”
McDonald says Duquesne Light has sought to address this lack of access in a few different ways. He tells City Paper that the company is “working with site hosts” across its service territory to “increase the availability of public EV charging, and also making sure that some of that charging is located in residential areas.” Part of that includes working with municipalities on “potential street curbside projects” that would allow drivers to charge directly on the street.
“So that kind of helps fill the gap for some of that residential charging that’s needed,” says McDonald, adding that drivers can then supplement home charging by using fast-charging facilities located throughout the Pittsburgh region. John speaks to this, saying that he often pays a small fee to power up his Tesla at charging stations located in Giant Eagle parking lots.
Still, some wonder how available resources will be for EV drivers in underserved, low-income areas, especially since many car manufacturers plan to phase out gas-powered vehicles, making the transition to electric an eventual requirement. This is in conjunction with a push by President Joe Biden’s administration to convert half of all newly manufactured vehicles to electric by 2030.
Recently, a team that includes Corey Harper, an assistant civil and environmental engineering professor at the Carnegie Mellon University School of Information Systems and Public Policy, received a grant from the Department of Energy to do research on EV charging infrastructure.
“We saw that, right now, in Pittsburgh, a lot of the charges are located in areas where there are either a lot of shops near the schools, or the Downtown area,” he explains to City Paper, referring primarily to the neighborhoods surrounding CMU and the University of Pittsburgh. “So, you know, pretty well-off areas.”
Harper explains that his DoE-funded research looks at creating “optimization tools” for cities, in this case, Pittsburgh and Seattle, to best determine where EV chargers should be located based on a number of factors.
Harper says that, while there’s a growing demand to adopt EV technology, Pittsburgh and other U.S. cities need to make the transition in an equitable way. For example, while single-family homeowners may be able to rig an extension cord, many low-income drivers rent and often live in multi-unit apartment buildings, where they face a greater challenge accessing power.
This lack of access could be addressed through plans by Duquesne Light to install more charging stations as part of a community program that McDonald says will help cover the cost of installing EV chargers at “public workplace and multifamily properties.”
“This is not a program that is for residential customers, but for commercial customers that, ultimately, when they install that charging station, could benefit residents,” he says. “We’re working with a number of customers through that, especially municipalities. We hope that will continue to increase the amount of public charging that’s available in the Pittsburgh region.”
When it comes to paying for the service, McDonald says costs will likely be determined by the municipalities or private companies running the chargers, and that customers would pay through a mobile app similar to the one used by the Pittsburgh Parking Authority.
McDonald points out that local authorities are also making electric transportation available in other ways, including transitioning the Pittsburgh Regional Transit buses to electric and providing electric-powered bike rentals to the public through POGOH.
Harper agrees that, until EV technology adequately expands, drivers can look at hybrid model cars like the Toyota Prius, which offer the benefits of both electric and gas power.
Until energy companies, government leaders, and researchers determine the optimal way to make EV charging widely available, residential drivers are left trying to juice up their Teslas and other electric vehicles. In that regard, John offers a bright spot, explaining that, while his Uber gig requires him to charge multiple times a week, regular commuters will probably only need one charge a week, pointing out how his Tesla charges up to 300 miles. He also offers a few tips on charging, such as turning off certain features in the car that drain the battery.
Overall, though, he believes that the cord hassle is worth it to avoid paying at the pump. He estimates that, to charge at home, he pays around eight cents per kilowatt — the now standard rate for residential Duquesne Light customers — which totals less than $25 for a 275-mile charge.
“You can’t beat that,” he says.
This article appears in Aug 2-8, 2023.
