Electrify America big outage SC to FL

[mattbostonmache]

Just watched this video that says Electrify America is down for planned maintenance from South Carolina to Florida along I-95 including labor day weekend.

This is not promising.



(I'm in the northeast and don't have an ev currently, so I can't verify)

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[macchiaz-o]

About a month ago, I noticed via PlugShare that all of the Arizona EA locations were offline. They're back online now, but it is troubling that they'd do maintenance on an entire state wide charging network concurrently.

 

[timbop]

Unbelievable. Actually, incompetence or apathy are the words that come to mind. Instead of replacing a third at a time, they turn them all off at the same time.

I noticed back at the beginning of august that most of the sites along that corridor were reporting as 50kw instead of 150/350. I guess the fix for that is to make them 0kw?

Still flabbergasted. really makes me think about driving a BEV beyond the battery range. This will hurt BEV adoption for sure.

 

[JamieGeek]

Except that EA isn't the only network are they. This would be akin to all the Mobile stations temporarily closing along a major freeway. There are other stations--granted there are a lot more gas stations than charging locations but still. (In addition to that you won't see all the Mobiles closing because, for one, they are independent franchises instead of being owned by a single company--more like Chargepoint chargers.)

Look, if I go to plugshare and show all the DCFC's that aren't EA in that section I see plenty:

Toggling EA on off I see at most 3 or 4 stations popup and go away. There are a few gaps there (notably between Charleston and Savannah and Savannah and Jacksonville) but even then turning on EA I only see two popup there and they aren't even in the middle of the gaps (closer to Savannah and Charleston).

EA isn't the end-all-be-all of charging stations...they are just one of many nationwide networks.

Yes, I get it: There aren't as many as gas stations and you won't find two competing ones next to each other like gas stations so that if you were planning at stopping at an EA charger and its offline now you're scrambling because one isn't immediately apparent in the area--that will change with time.

 

[ChasingCoral]

Except that EA isn't the only network are they. This would be akin to all the Mobile stations temporarily closing along a major freeway. There are other stations--granted there are a lot more gas stations than charging locations but still. (In addition to that you won't see all the Mobiles closing because, for one, they are independent franchises instead of being owned by a single company--more like Chargepoint chargers.)

Look, if I go to plugshare and show all the DCFC's that aren't EA in that section I see plenty:

Toggling EA on off I see at most 3 or 4 stations popup and go away. There are a few gaps there (notably between Charleston and Savannah and Savannah and Jacksonville) but even then turning on EA I only see two popup there and they aren't even in the middle of the gaps (closer to Savannah and Charleston).

EA isn't the end-all-be-all of charging stations...they are just one of many nationwide networks.

Yes, I get it: There aren't as many as gas stations and you won't find two competing ones next to each other like gas stations so that if you were planning at stopping at an EA charger and its offline now you're scrambling because one isn't immediately apparent in the area--that will change with time.

True, however chargers are Fe and far between and without real-time knowledge of such shutdowns, situationsLike this could leave BEV drivers stranded.

Using your analogy, it’s like all the Mobil stations being closed suddenly when gas stations are at 50 miles apart.

 

[dbsb3233]

Still flabbergasted. really makes me think about driving a BEV beyond the battery range. This will hurt BEV adoption for sure.

Some, but honestly, I don't think there's many mainstream buyers that think BEVs are "ready for prime time" for long road trips yet anyway.

I think we're still in the period of BEV evolution where most mainstream buyers that choose a BEV are doing so without much intent to use it on long trips (they either have a 2nd car, or plan to rent, or simply don't take long road trips). Even when EA is working, BEVs for long road trips will remain a hard sell until highway range and charging times get much better. Outside the BEV enthusiasts, I think they're being bought almost entirely for home-charging use (in the US).

 

[timbop]

Some, but honestly, I don't think there's many mainstream buyers that think BEVs are "ready for prime time" for long road trips yet anyway.

I think we're still in the period of BEV evolution where most mainstream buyers that choose a BEV are doing so without much intent to use it on long trips (they either have a 2nd car, or plan to rent, or simply don't take long road trips). Even when EA is working, BEVs for long road trips will remain a hard sell until highway range and charging times get much better. Outside the BEV enthusiasts, I think they're being bought almost entirely for home-charging use (in the US).

I'm thinking more about the average buyer who doesn't really know much about BEVs and asks their salesman for advice. For various reasons (the dealership makes more money on ICE because of ongoing maintenance, just plain higher margins on ICE, or the salesman is clueless) I can see salesman using this story to scare people off from BEVs and directing them to buy an ICE. I can also imagine the average buyer seeing this story in some ICE-slanted article and deciding BEV's are bad and an ICE is a safer choice.

The persistence of FUD is very strong, and things like this don't help.

 

[opennetus]

Some, but honestly, I don't think there's many mainstream buyers that think BEVs are "ready for prime time" for long road trips yet anyway.

I think we're still in the period of BEV evolution where most mainstream buyers that choose a BEV are doing so without much intent to use it on long trips (they either have a 2nd car, or plan to rent, or simply don't take long road trips). Even when EA is working, BEVs for long road trips will remain a hard sell until highway range and charging times get much better. Outside the BEV enthusiasts, I think they're being bought almost entirely for home-charging use (in the US).

True. We have two cars, a hybrid for long trips and (soon) a BEV for local driving. I agree that most EV owners will be in the same situation and are not relying on a BEV for long distance travel. Or if they do plan to do long distance travel, they will buy a Tesla instead. Honestly, if I planned to use the EV for long distance trips, I would be buying a Tesla too. The main reason I ended up picking the Mustang Mach-E over the Model Y is because I plan to use of DCFC only rarely, and even then, within one charger hop from home so I won't be stranded someplace far away. When you remove the super charger network from the equation, I believe the Mach-E is the better car for many people (because of the better appearance, build quality/QA, and Ford service network). However, if I needed to take long trips out of state, I would have gone with Tesla as the SuperCharger network is simply vastly superior and more reliable right now than any of the CCS networks.

 

[silverelan]

Some, but honestly, I don't think there's many mainstream buyers that think BEVs are "ready for prime time" for long road trips yet anyway.

I think we're still in the period of BEV evolution where most mainstream buyers that choose a BEV are doing so without much intent to use it on long trips (they either have a 2nd car, or plan to rent, or simply don't take long road trips). Even when EA is working, BEVs for long road trips will remain a hard sell until highway range and charging times get much better. Outside the BEV enthusiasts, I think they're being bought almost entirely for home-charging use (in the US).

I disagree with you for one very simple reason: Tesla.

Tesla has proven that EVs are viable for everyday use and road trips with a combination of long range, quick recharging and ubiquitous charging stations combined with a brain-dead simple to use pay system.

There's no reason every other company can't figure it out too.

 

[EVer]

There's no reason every other company can't figure it out too.

Tesla's solution is holistic; they supply both the vehicles and the DCFC stations. They likely did so originally out of necessity, but in hindsight perhaps it was fortunate as their customers aren't put into in a situation where their experience is impacted by another company. Tesla owns it all, good or bad.

 

[silverelan]

Tesla's solution is holistic; they supply both the vehicles and the DCFC stations. They likely did so originally out of necessity, but in hindsight perhaps it was fortunate as their customers aren't put into in a situation where their experience is impacted by another company. Tesla owns it all, good or bad.

Agreed, Tesla's vertically integrated model is brilliant because it's mission-focused.

My point is that the reasoning that EVs are impractical as the only car for households is flawed based on the success of Tesla.

 

[EVer]

My point is that the reasoning that EVs are impractical as the only car for households is flawed based on the success of Tesla.

Agreed. Personally, I've only use DCFC a couple of times. The car is efficient enough and charges quickly enough that level 2 is sufficient. Road trips are the exception, but not a major part of my use case. I'm expecting with a mach e not much will be different. It probably won't go as far, all else being equal, but it won't have to.

There is nothing more practical, IMO, than fueling where you live.

 

[dbsb3233]

I disagree with you for one very simple reason: Tesla.

Tesla has proven that EVs are viable for everyday use and road trips with a combination of long range, quick recharging and ubiquitous charging stations combined with a brain-dead simple to use pay system.

There's no reason every other company can't figure it out too.

Tesla hasn't solved the road trip obstacles, they've just partially mitigated them by being further aheas with charger coverage. But even with that better coverage, there's a still a lot of Tesla owners that say long road trips require so much compromise and annoyance that they just drive an ICE for that instead.

And we're still talking <3% of the US vehicle market. The easier sells, that were largely EV enthusiasts or people more motivated to get an EV and thus more willing to compromise. I'm talking more about mainstream buyers that are equally as willing to buy ICE or BEV and are just weighing all the major pros/cons of each for their situation. Even with a good Tesla charging network, they'll see long refueling stops and short high-speed range as a 'con'. Doesn't mean the 'pros' may not outnumber them though (just depends on each person's situation).

As for EA figuring it out, I have no doubt that they will. They're about 3 years behind Tesla. Just gonna take patience.

 

[dbsb3233]

I'm thinking more about the average buyer who doesn't really know much about BEVs and asks their salesman for advice. For various reasons (the dealership makes more money on ICE because of ongoing maintenance, just plain higher margins on ICE, or the salesman is clueless) I can see salesman using this story to scare people off from BEVs and directing them to buy an ICE. I can also imagine the average buyer seeing this story in some ICE-slanted article and deciding BEV's are bad and an ICE is a safer choice.

The persistence of FUD is very strong, and things like this don't help.

Honestly, someone walking in cold and depending on a salesman to educate them about the crucial differences for buying a BEV vs ICE probably shouldn't be buying a BEV anyway. Refueling is so radically different than what mainstream buyers are used to that they better know what they're getting into before blindly walking into a dealership with intent to buy.

BEVs can be great for the right situations, but not if you're not in the right situation.

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