About had it with poor CS charging infrastructure, when/how do we get the Tesla adapter?

[Panzer948]

Today I planned a drive off the interstate to cut through a more scenic route (between Raleigh and Charlotte, NC) as I previously used a Shell Charger on city property in this particular small/midsize town (Sanford, NC). Before leaving I even checked Plugshare and it said both units were working (and they still do). I get there with 50 miles of range left and never could connect. A Bolt owner pulled up and same problem. She gave up but I stayed and called their support number. After about 5 mins someone answered and basically said they are telling all their customers that if they cant get them to work, then to move on as their system has been down for hours and they cant login to the stations to troubleshoot. To me, that is a company (Shell) that doesn't care about building a reliable infrastructure. Conflict of interest perhaps... Anyway, I was able to find a slow ChargePoint unit in the next town, leaving me just enough range to get there and requiring another way home.

This isn't the first time I have had superchargers from Shell not work. ChargePoint isn't much better. Personally, Electrify America, especially the ones at Super Walmarts, have been the most reliable. Still, I am ready to open up to the Tesla Network and was curious how much longer that will be before we can do so.

Yes, I am partially venting here but these companies that half ass run their systems are a big part of the problem. Luckily, I dont go outside of my cars range to often to even worry about charging on the road. But I do want it to work when I do and things like Plugshare should also be accurate when planning (as we know Ford's built in mapping software is even less accurate).

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[Fremont Kid]

Venting is fine.
Many of us have done so.

Bottom line is if the EV charging companies don't oversee themselves for the value of their industry, then a 3rd party will need to. I want States and the Federal governments to oversee EV chargers, just as divisions of weights and measures do with gasoline pump outlets, i.e. service stations. Others on this forum will argue against government involvement. But...w/o oversight gasoline stations would not pump accurate amounts, gas would contain much more water and other non-combustibles, and this is all proven through history. OOPS, now I'm venting a bit.

I did not drive from Illinois to VA because of the lack of chargers through southern WV. I've been frustrated by chargers that did not work accurately between Colorado Springs and Albuquerque. However, other EV owners have shared their long trips with successful charging experiences. Best advise at this time: Continue to check PlugShare, plan your route before the trip, get to know the chargers and their history where you drive the most.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[sookestang]

I can’t believe that we can run massive amounts of electricity under every ocean on the planet, power millions of servers and GPUs, power every single light standard and highway light and power hundreds of millions of large appliances in homes all without failure but companies cannot keep a power source with plug working.

What am I missing? Why are these devices so delicate?

 

[mach-ebert]

What am I missing? Why are these devices so delicate?

They lack the financial reward to ensure reliability. I think when charging stations figure out a way to earn profits on items/services other than charging, we'll see reliability increase. The current ROI is terrible.

 

[ChasingCoral]

I am ready to open up to the Tesla Network and was curious how much longer that will be before we can do so.

We are waiting for:

1. Tesla to implement the software on their v3 and v4 Superchargers to allow Fords and GMs to use them
2. Ford to open the registration to request adapters and then for Ford to send them out
3. (alternate to 2, A2Z has an adapter for sale that will probably work)

 

[Panzer948]

We are waiting for:

1. Tesla to implement the software on their v3 and v4 Superchargers to allow Fords and GMs to use them
2. Ford to open the registration to request adapters and then for Ford to send them out
3. (alternate to 2, A2Z has an adapter for sale that will probably work)

Thanks. Great summary. I saw there was a long thread specific to the Tesla topic but didn't want to read 40 pages. This was perfect. Hopefully will not take them to long.

 

[charliec]

They lack the financial reward to ensure reliability. I think when charging stations figure out a way to earn profits on items/services other than charging, we'll see reliability increase. The current ROI is terrible.

I think Elon Musk sees the opportunity to dominate the charging business for non-Tesla EVs. He is facing more and more competition from EV makers and likely views opening up his charging network as a way make a bunch of money in a business where the competition is woefully incompetent.

<rant> My experience with charging on road trips (I live in Florida) has been awful -- too few chargers per site, one or more chargers per site not working, remaining chargers often derated to 50KW or less. Once my Mach-E can charge on the Supercharger network, I likely will not charge anywhere else on road trips unless I am in a situation where I have no other choice but to do so. </rant>

 

[azerik]

Same here. Not sure I’d bother with EA after I could hit any of the 3 SC’s I need to and be done in record time vs 10 min off the freeway to a Walmart to play EA Roulette.
I won’t road trip my mme until then.
It’d be fantastic if this was opened up within three weeks so that I could actually use my car to drive to California on my kids spring break.

 

[HuntingPudel]

We are waiting for:

1. Tesla to implement the software on their v3 and v4 Superchargers to allow Fords and GMs to use them
2. Ford to open the registration to request adapters and then for Ford to send them out
3. (alternate to 2, A2Z has an adapter for sale that will probably work)

In Ford parlance: "Soon™." When that is for #2... Nobody outside of Ford knows. ??

I'm pretty sure (yeah, conjecture on my part) that Tesla already has a VIN decoder ready for #1 and has code to work with SAE Plug & Charge. They probably just need to push updates and "flip the switch" on the server side. ?‍?

 

[kltye]

Today I planned a drive off the interstate to cut through a more scenic route (between Raleigh and Charlotte, NC) as I previously used a Shell Charger on city property in this particular small/midsize town (Sanford, NC). Before leaving I even checked Plugshare and it said both units were working (and they still do). I get there with 50 miles of range left and never could connect. A Bolt owner pulled up and same problem. She gave up but I stayed and called their support number. After about 5 mins someone answered and basically said they are telling all their customers that if they cant get them to work, then to move on as their system has been down for hours and they cant login to the stations to troubleshoot. To me, that is a company (Shell) that doesn't care about building a reliable infrastructure. Conflict of interest perhaps... Anyway, I was able to find a slow ChargePoint unit in the next town, leaving me just enough range to get there and requiring another way home.

This isn't the first time I have had superchargers from Shell not work. ChargePoint isn't much better. Personally, Electrify America, especially the ones at Super Walmarts, have been the most reliable. Still, I am ready to open up to the Tesla Network and was curious how much longer that will be before we can do so.

Yes, I am partially venting here but these companies that half ass run their systems are a big part of the problem. Luckily, I dont go outside of my cars range to often to even worry about charging on the road. But I do want it to work when I do and things like Plugshare should also be accurate when planning (as we know Ford's built in mapping software is even less accurate).

Curious: Did you try the ABB charger at the Nissan dealership down the road?

 

[tfitzgex]

I know a2z is releasing an adapter, is any other company working on one that has an extension? Fact is it is going to be a terrible experience if the cables aren't longer. This has also been an issue on a lot of CCS chargers, and likely cause of failure for some of the chargers, when the bulky CCS plug isn't perfectly in the port, it can cause stress on it and your charge port. Our cars just aren't designed to plug in to a charge cable that short!

 

[kodiakng]

Yes, I am partially venting here but these companies that half ass run their systems are a big part of the problem. Luckily, I dont go outside of my cars range to often to even worry about charging on the road. But I do want it to work when I do and things like Plugshare should also be accurate when planning (as we know Ford's built in mapping software is even less accurate).

just curious - did you also report the issue on plugshare? driver reports are a great, and sometimes only, resource for recent issues on stations.

you are the "crowd" in crowdsourcing.

 

[Panzer948]

just curious - did you also report the issue on plugshare? driver reports are a great, and sometimes only, resource for recent issues on stations.

you are the "crowd" in crowdsourcing.

Definitely. Even wrote up how PlugShare indicated it was operable...

 

[Panzer948]

Curious: Did you try the ABB charger at the Nissan dealership down the road?

No. I thought about it but I have had bad luck with dealerships not being open for other models other than their own. Maybe could of been an option but I recall it was in opposite direction and I didn't want to use to much range.

 

[kltye]

No. I thought about it but I have had bad luck with dealerships not being open for other models other than their own. Maybe could of been an option but I recall it was in opposite direction and I didn't want to use to much range.

I've actually never had that issue with CCS charging (level 2 charging is another matter altogether), especially if it's paid. Although I've only had such experiences in the midwest ?

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