Charging Station Congestion

[voxel]

When I owned my ID.4 and Mach-E Premium RWD in the fall... no lines but I have encountered full locations.

Once at Love's Travel Stop in Davenport. There were 2 Taycans, me, a Kona EV, and when one Taycan left a prototype ID.4 with manufacturers plates arrived. It neat to discuss forthcoming charging changes with the driver/engineer.

At Florida Mall - yes. On weekends all stalls could be occupied (usually 1-2 open though). I mostly met ID.4, E-tron, Taycan owners at the time along with plenty of Bolts. Some spots could be ICE-ed also.

Today was the first time I've encountered a lineup at a Tesla Supercharger in Florida (usually there is one free and the location caps charges at 80%) but there was a line of two cars in front of me at Lakeland. Back when I had a Y in Oct - I never saw more than 60% utilization at these Superchargers. Nowadays in Florida, I expect the all SC locations to be nearly full with a high utilization max charge (80%)

DC charging is only going to get much worse I fear.

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[AKgrampy]

When I owned my ID.4 and Mach-E Premium RWD in the fall... no lines but I have encountered full locations.

Once at Love's Travel Stop in Davenport. There were 2 Taycans, me, a Kona EV, and when one Taycan left a prototype ID.4 with manufacturers plates arrived. It neat to discuss forthcoming charging changes with the driver/engineer.

At Florida Mall - yes. On weekends all stalls could be occupied (usually 1-2 open though). I mostly met ID.4, E-tron, Taycan owners at the time along with plenty of Bolts. Some spots could be ICE-ed also.

Today was the first time I've encountered a lineup at a Tesla Supercharger in Florida (usually there is one free and the location caps charges at 80%) but there was a line of two cars in front of me at Lakeland. Back when I had a Y in Oct - I never saw more than 60% utilization at these Superchargers. Nowadays in Florida, I expect the all SC locations to be nearly full with a high utilization max charge (80%)

DC charging is only going to get much worse I fear.

Good for capital recovery - bad for waiting times,

 

[voxel]

I haven't had to wait to get a charger yet, but for a few minutes of my charge session this afternoon, all 6 spots at the EA in Ormond Beach FL were occupied and charging. 2 MME (including mine), 2 Ioniq 5's, a Kia EV6 and a Bolt.

Wow... that was often a fairly empty charging location when I visited (Sat + Sundays mornings and late afternoons) in the fall. I'd pitstop there on my way back from Palm Coast or Jacksonville. This was pre Ioniq 5 and EV6 release so it was mostly Taycans, Polestars, ID.4 visiting. That location would be messy with a "line"

 

[voxel]

Good for capital recovery - bad for waiting times,

Might encourage Wawa/Buc-ees/etc. to build more DC chargers at their locations if they are finally profitable. There were 8 Teslas... each buying overpriced snacks at the Wawa's. I spent 75 cent on a single banana and $5 on a tiny pinwheel sandwhich - in 15 minutes.

 

[Astro19]

It’s going to get worse before it gets better. Even though a lot of people can charge at home so you don’t expect local traffic at charge stations, more and more you will have people who live in apartments who have no other option but to charge at charge stations. And the fact that most cars today are less than 250 miles of range means they have to visit a charge station frequently. I think the combination of more range, faster charging and infrastructure will make this better in the future but I see this being a major issue for the next 3 years or so maybe even longer since it’s not cheap to build a charge station.

Yep. Basically more cars are being bought then chargers being built. But eventually less charging will be needed and more stations will be available.

I say this trend will get worse for a few years and then start getting better. Eventually it will be like gas stations.

I have had to wait for gas before too ha.

 

[Tampamike]

Are you tired of walking around a Walmart?

I’m pretty much over Walmart. I use the bathroom and that’s about it.

 

[Thunderanger]

Are you tired of walking around a Walmart?

Or getting another Blizzard at DQ?

 

[Tampamike]

I expect the Delmarva peninsula is going to be a dumpster fire this summer when traffic from the Philly and DC areas arrives; there are very few DCFCs here.

Yeah, that little charging desert is a real inconvenience. The only time I came close to empty because it took four charger locations to find one that worked.

 

[Engelbert]

Yeah, that little charging desert is a real inconvenience. The only time I came close to empty because it took four charger locations to find one that worked.

Same. Delmarva has a small handful of chargers, but in the southern reaches of Delaware it's rare to be anywhere near an L3 charger that actually works. Closest I have come to being stuck, and the first time I have ever heard myself say "Thank goodness for Dover."

 

[dtbaker61]

Big waits and long queues. This is already happening at Tesla Superchargers. Are people seeing this at EA and EVgo?

I was at an EA station on Friday with a Bolt EV charging up when I got there and then two EV6s pulled up.

the bigger questions are how many people USE public charge stations, and how often ?

I have used a (free) station at a ski area once, and pay charge station on a road trip twice in 1 year of ownership and 11k miles... all the rest is charging at home.

 

[RickMachE]

Three trips totaling 70+% of our 8,700 miles. 25+ public charging sessions.

 

[metalpro2021]

It is time to introduce variable pricing where necessary. Peek time : double rates. There will be no escaping these measures.

 

[ElectrifyCLT]

I've done two 1,000 mile round trips from CLT to Cincinnati, and one from CLT to DC. Those trips were exclusively EA DCFC Sessions. With the Mach E, driving at 80MPH means only ~160 mile range from 80% SOC. This is generally true with most EVs. At highway speeds most (maybe some top end Model S's) aren't getting more than ~220 miles in range.

Issue 1: Driving at extra-legal (but not that much above the flow of traffic) crushes efficiency, hence range, forcing at least one more stop than it should.

Issue 2: EA's rollout strategy is to space charges ~100 miles apart on major highway routes. Until DCFC becomes more ubiquitous on highways, you end up with a bit of a accordion effect around each charger. On my way home last night, an i4 and EV6 were keeping pace. We ran into them at every single charge session along I-85. Many EA stations on the east coast are four stall units. Our little impromptu caravan utilized 75% of those chargers in that timeframe. Unlike superchargers, it doesn't seem like EA has the 16+ stall locations like the most popular superchargers.

Issue 3: I agree with Kyle on this, you need more level 2 charging. At a stop in Richmond I ran into a Mach E owner who doesn't have Level 2 charging, so she always drive up to the Walmart to charge up to 100% (!) anytime she comes. Huge waste. More L2 charging would alleviate the strain on DCFC, especially true if L2 becomes ubiquitous at hotels.


TLDR; I only DCFC during road trips. It already adds an hour to a 6 hour drive in the Mach E. If I had to wait even just 10 minutes at each charger, with a mediocre charging curve, I'd probably lose my mind.

This issue and how it plays out over the next few years will be the make or break issue that decides if I pick up another EV as our second family vehicle, or go gas, in 3-5 years time.

 

[Logal727]

I haven't had to wait to get a charger yet, but for a few minutes of my charge session this afternoon, all 6 spots at the EA in Ormond Beach FL were occupied and charging. 2 MME (including mine), 2 Ioniq 5's, a Kia EV6 and a Bolt.

That’s a good charger yet again also at a Walmart lol

 

[GoGoGadgetMachE]

Might encourage Wawa/Buc-ees/etc. to build more DC chargers at their locations if they are finally profitable. There were 8 Teslas... each buying overpriced snacks at the Wawa's. I spent 75 cent on a single banana and $5 on a tiny pinwheel sandwhich - in 15 minutes.

paying that much for a banana is bananas, b-a-n-a-n-a-s

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