Friday charging experiance

[Jim622]

I had a busy Friday and Ended up in Canoga Park with 40% Battery and 125 miles home in Heavy Friday Traffic. Normally I wouldn't be concerned but with heavy stop-and-go traffic and AC running, Maybe I better charge.
1st stop at Topanga Mall has 11 EA high-speed chargers. Only 4 are working, and there are 10 cars waiting.
2nd Stop Ralphs in Encino has 7 EA 150 KW chargers all in use and 6 cars waiting.
3rd Stop Shell charging station 1 mile away What a joke one charger and 3 cars waiting.
4th stop Walmart in Burbank, has 13 150kw and 2 350 KW 15 total All are in use, and 5 cars are in line. I waited in line for 45 minutes Finally got to a charger initialized and it quit in 1 minute. OK, unplugged and initialized again it quit in one minute. I called EA and sat on hold for 30 minutes no one answered.
5th stop Ontario Mills Mall has 9 150KW and 4 350 KW All in use and 4 cars in line AT this point I am at 28% might make it home but to close for comfort. I wait for 30 minutes and get one. Try to initiate with the app and it won't go. So I insert a CC and Pay the full rate. It works flawlessly.
Needless to say, this was a Frustrating Friday. As EVs become more popular, is this what we have?

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[RickMachE]

Many have posted similar issues. Much of the country doesn't experience the congestion that California does though.

 

[TheBraydenKyle]

Reading stories like this about charging in CA stress me out. I’m fortunate that, while there are a lot of EVs around my city, it’s nothing compared to most of CA. The only full chargers I experience around here are those Cruise driverless taxis if I charge esrky near downtown.

 

[kennethjk]

Yeah, nothing like that on the east coast. I mean many units may be broken and I had to wait 15 minutes at an EA station that had 4 total unit’s (1 was broken) only 3 worked. most of my stops have been uneventful except for pulling into a stall with a broken charger just Annoying. I solved that to some degree by checking PlugShare more often or the app from that particular manufacturer

Hope the new ones will have more up time and they become more plentiful. Tesla charging will help us next year but maybe not so much in Ca.

 

[DugthePug Dad]

I was on a road trip to So Cal when my Escape died on me.

I ended up buying my MME on July 4th and had to enter the road trip charging experience to get home from Huntington Beach to the Bay Area. I took the 101 vs the 5 because I figured their were more chargers along the 101 and it's a more scenic drive.

1st charge was in Goleta. Waited about 5 minutes and was able to get a charger. EA charger worked with plug and pay with no issues. took about 40 minutes for a 85% charge.

2nd charge in in Paso Robles was a nightmare. Again EA and two of the 4 chargers were down. 2 cars charging with two cars waiting so I was third in line. one of the cars waiting charges to 90% (MME select) and the other to 100% (Audi). 2 hours later I was back on the road.

3rd stop was in Solidad. EVgo. Pulled up to an open charger and plugged in with no issues. Went and got a Subway used the facilities and when I came out was at 85% and headed home.

It was a long day and I had both good and bad charging experiences. With more and more EV's on the road they need to vastly increase the charging networks. With the opening up the Tesla chargers it should help quite a bit.

Most EV drivers it appears will have to carry adapters to use on the many different charging systems.

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