Lothsahn said:
I don't see why it makes any sense to build out this infrastructure in most cases. In general, people will just charge at where they live (home, apartment, etc) and use L3 for long distance travel. I do see certain use cases, such as hotels, where L2 charging is likely to be common, but I'm not sure the cost will be justified for the other use cases, especially long-term parking lots such as at an airport, where the utilization of the charger will be extremely low (car charges initially, then sits for a week wasting the charger).
I have been thinking more about this, and I think that is very location dependant. For airports (and train stations) in the sunny south, you may be correct, but here in the great white north, things are a bit different.
For those not familiar, according to the 2019 Leaf Owners manual (pg. EV-5):
LI-ION BATTERY WARMER (IF SO EQUIPPED)
! CAUTION
The Li-ion battery warmer does not operate if the available Li-ion battery charge is less than approximately 15% and the charger is not connected to the vehicle. To help prevent the Li-ion battery from freezing, do not leave the vehicle in an environment if temperatures may go below -1°F (-17°C) unless the vehicle is connected to a charger.
The Li-ion battery warmer helps to prevent the Li-ion battery from freezing and helps to prevent significant reductions in the Li-ion battery output when the temperature is cold. The Li-ion battery warmer automatically turns on when the Li-ion battery temperature is approximately -1°F (-17°C) or colder. The Li-ion battery warmer automatically turns off when the Li-ion battery temperature is approximately 14°F (-10°C) or higher.
Now from what I have read, the battery warmer only uses about 300W of electricity, but if it needed to run continuously, that would be over 7kW per day. Given a 5 day cold streak (not unheard of), you could be down 28kW just from keeping the battery warm. When you factor in a 40% reduction in range in winter, that could be problematic. Even worse, if it drops you down below 15% SOC, your car could be bricked until it warms up or you can plug it in.
Even a 6A (700W) trickle charger would be enough to prevent that from happening and would still give you a bit of a charge. They could give everyone a 120V 15A outlet, but that is a lot less convenient (especially in cold weather) and it would require them to have double the number of circuits, which costs money. Providing charging stations rather than just an outlet, allows them to better monitor and manage the power output.
An interesting alternative would be to have small V2G chargers. Since for long term storage, it is best to keep your vehicle between 30 & 50% SOC, they could drain your battery down to that range when they need the power, and keep it in that range. You could program in your return flight information (or better yet booking reference in case your itinerary changes) and they could then ensure your vehicle is charged back up to your desired level (ex. 80% or 100%) when you return.
One way or another, long-term parking lots in cold climates need to have a method of charging.