Warning: The shift to all-electric fleets is moving too fast for Detroit's infrastructure

I saw a huge change in my neighborhood over the last year. The city put in a block of six public EV chargers near the old Packard plant. Before they went in, that lot was just empty. Now, every time I drive by, at least four of them are broken or have an 'out of service' sign. The city spent a ton of money, but they didn't plan for the upkeep. The tech is cool, but the business model for maintaining it isn't there yet. We're pushing hard to be a leader, but the basics aren't covered. Has anyone else seen new public tech projects that just fell apart after the first six months?

3 comments

3 Comments

terry8355d ago

Yeah, that tracks. Seen the same thing with those new digital parking meters downtown.

sanchez.mary4d ago

The city put in four fast chargers at the Meijer on 8 Mile last fall. They've been solid for me, and I see them working most times I'm there. It feels like some places just picked the wrong hardware or a bad service contract. My cousin in Ann Arbor says their city-run spots have way fewer issues because they hired a local company to handle repairs. It's not that the tech can't work, it's about picking the right partners from the start.

phoenix_lewis4d ago

Ugh, that's so frustrating. It really does come down to who's running the show and keeping things fixed. Makes you wonder why more places don't get that right.