I love changing my mind. It's fun to admit I'm wrong rather than digging in my heels. Not only is it fun, but it's also way easier. And I also find I feel good after doing so, whereas when I try and defend a position I am growing unsure about, I feel worse, like I have a foreign object in my stomach.
So I wrote an article about something I changed my mind about. Specifically, I no longer believe the U.S. needs to build 500,000 public electric vehicle chargers, or a million, or whatever huge number various politicians and industry experts say. Instead of helping spur EV adoption, I worry this narrative actively undermines it, because charging EVs at home—something that can easily be done by the majority of American car owners—is constantly cited as one of the key benefits of EV ownership.
Of course, we still need more chargers, especially fast chargers, in strategic locations to create a true fast-charging network nationwide. And as more EVs get on the road, the more chargers we'll need to keep up capacity. But the number experts cite to plug those gaps is more like 10,000 to 30,000. That's still a lot, but far more manageable.
If you think I'm missing something important here about why 500,000 chargers is necessary, I really would love to hear from you—see above about changing my mind—but please, please read the article before emailing me. I beg you. I've gotten so many emails this week from people who didn't read the damn article. I can't learn anything from you if you just tell me what I already wrote.