More Electrify America EV chargers are coming, this time at TA rest stops

[Phil Martin]

They can install their chargers wherever, the problem is half of them are busted.

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[Logal727]

Kia and Hyundai can't charge fast in winter because they cannot precondition battery, and a cold battery won't accept full charge rate. I think the most recent brand new Ioniq5/EV6 may be able to, and they might be working on an update so that more of them can precondition.

Ioniq 5 has a dealer update that all vehicles can get to DCFC preconditioning

 

[Logal727]

The diesel-gate fine money should be running out in 2024. I don’t think EA has 5 years to get its act together.

Ford should buy them out or something. I honestly don’t know why Ford doesn’t just do it’s own CCS network like Tesla, maybe throw in some perks for Ford owners like cheaper rates or being able to reserve a charger

 

[Peaceowl]

Just thinking how many e cars will be on the road one year from now…don’t go anywhere on a holiday weekend! It’s already a problem, and playing catch up will never happen at this rate.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

Just thinking how many e cars will be on the road one year from now…don’t go anywhere on a holiday weekend! It’s already a problem, and playing catch up will never happen at this rate.

This was the SuperCharger line at the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo California (Sort of). The picture is taken looking towards the out of view station, which is past the restaurant and at the far end of the parking lot. It’s on a busy day when parents were picking up kids at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo. Expect something like that.

 

[astronut325]

This was the SuperCharger line at the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo California (Sort of). The picture is taken looking towards the out of view station, which is past the restaurant and at the far end of the parking lot. It’s on a busy day when parents were picking up kids at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo. Expect something like that.

Yes, Teslas network can also hit max capacity. The question is this: How often is this the case for Tesla Superchargers and how does it compare to the CCS network? Every single time I’ve had to use CCS chargers I’ve had issues with capacity, AND broken chargers. I’ve made several trips with my buddy’s model Y. Not ONE issue. Most EA stations in SoCal are 4-6 stalls. Most superchargers are 10+. And for the CCS networks you have to account for broken chargers with at least 50% being non-functional. So that’s effectively 2-3 working charging stalls per station.

So I absolutely understand the people being skeptical towards EA. Their network is atrocious and this plan isn’t inspiring any confidence. Especially since they will install in 5 years what Tesla will install just this year alone.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

Yes, Teslas network can also hit max capacity. The question is this: How often is this the case for Tesla Superchargers and how does it compare to the CCS network? Every single time I’ve had to use CCS chargers I’ve had issues with capacity, AND broken chargers. I’ve made several trips with my buddy’s model Y. Not ONE issue. Most EA stations in SoCal are 4-6 stalls. Most superchargers are 10+. And for the CCS networks you have to account for broken chargers with at least 50% being non-functional. So that’s effectively 2-3 working charging stalls per station.

So I absolutely understand the people being skeptical towards EA. Their network is atrocious and this plan isn’t inspiring any confidence. Especially since they will install in 5 years what Tesla will install just this year alone.

I don’t disagree with you and I also have no dog in this fight as EA has zero plans for this state even after the IRA and Tesla did one and done last year.

My post was actually just to the single question raised by the earlier post, what will things look like in a year? To be fair to Tesla, iirc this picture was taken on the last day of school at Cal Poly before the Thanksgiving break a few years back. The Madonna Inn station was also a smaller station and was a must use stop for many arriving from the Bay Area. So that’s what people might see.

 

[tfitzgex]

And now that every other tesla owner has a CCS adapter expect them to hog up the charge ports. I wouldn't mind paying for a CCS to Tesla adapter... But daddy Elon isn't in a rush to open his charge network to non teslas...

 

[kltye]

I guess this is one advantage of living in flyover country - I've only waited twice at an EA in the past 19 months of EV ownership . And I don't even have at-home charging...

 

[Gixxer750]

Trust me when I say that the EVSE manufacturers have both the capability and capacity to pump out units faster. The struggle is always on the operator side in regards to location and getting the required power to site. The utilities are still the delay drivers and will be for years to come.

Regarding station line ups, we are now hitting the curve change from early adopters to acceptance by the general public. I've had to wait for a few Bolt drivers charging to 100% as well. I actually asked one of them nicely if they could stop at 95% as it would take another, what 20 minutes, to get to 100%. He firmly said no and that it is his right to charge to 100%. The uneducated masses in regards to charging etiquette are going to grow and the systems and UX are not in place to try and maintain charging station efficiency.

TLR - it's early days and it will get worse before it gets better.

 

[RickMachE]

I guess people have never had experiences with permitting, working with multiple suppliers, utilities, etc. Instant gratification expectation in our society is amazing.

People can understand the local restaurant can find help, but when a company like EA can't get technicians, or parts, then they can't comprehend that.

We had an intersection upgraded near us, they put in a major bike pathway. Took maybe a year to finish, except for the Walk / Don't Walk lights and traffic lights. I think that took 2 years longer. Why? Parts availability.

 

[kltye]

I've had to wait for a few Bolt drivers charging to 100% as well. I actually asked one of them nicely if they could stop at 95% as it would take another, what 20 minutes, to get to 100%. He firmly said no and that it is his right to charge to 100%. The uneducated masses in regards to charging etiquette are going to grow and the systems and UX are not in place to try and maintain charging station efficiency.

Sigh. Yes, it's his "right" to do that, but people who say that are generally a-holes. "Sorry, I have a really long stretch before the next DCFC and my battery is small, so I need every electron" doesn't revoke his man card, I'm pretty sure .

Why is it so hard for people to be courteous? I once needed to charge up close to 100% for a trip the next day at a 50kW DCFC (no at-home charging) and a Leaf pulled in about 5 minutes after I started. He proceeded to wait, but didn't say anything. I asked if he's OK with my tying up the charger for another 30 minutes, to which he gave the "uhhhh I just need a few percent to make it to the next charger, I'm sorry" grimace. Completely understandable, so I unplugged and let him have it. He was grateful, and was gone about 15 minutes later. This isn't hard.

 

[lakersfan]

I recently charged at EA headquarters and experienced chargers that were inoperable. I'm not holding my breath they'll get their act together in 5 years lol

 

[ATL]

Sigh. Yes, it's his "right" to do that, but people who say that are generally a-holes. "Sorry, I have a really long stretch before the next DCFC and my battery is small, so I need every electron" doesn't revoke his man card, I'm pretty sure .

Why is it so hard for people to be courteous?

A couple of possibilities for the low acceptance vehicle and the "must have 100%"... If the car won't accept at least half the capability of the charger within a couple of minutes of starting charge, or when the charge exceeds 80-85% battery capacity, charge a per kWh or per minute penalty. Many would find that pretty reasonable. See also the recent rant on the State of Charge You Tube channel about free charging manufacturer incentives.

 

[kennethjk]

That’s the thing….we’re seeing longer lines at the EA stations. I experienced it for the 1st in Dec at the EA station here in Tampa. Reading Plugshare, that same EA station had lines last week.

I believe that they depend on contractors to handle maintenance. But we don’t know EA’s maintenance standards. EvGo in a blog post from a couple of months ago lays out their maintenance response time standards for their Renewal program.

Is that station at “the walk at highwoods preserve”

I have used that a couple of time but very early in the morning to avoid any congestion

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