Reply from Electrify America

[Mach-E VLOG]

Except that i77 is a MAJOR N/S route going through WV with plenty of traffic from Ohio to the South and linking through Western VA with I64.

They definitely have some odd gaps. I think the gap between Albuquerque and El Paso is going to be a big pain for me. That one seems easy to fix with just one station in between. I20 and I55 in Louisiana and Mississippi are odd to me as well.

Sponsored

 

[dbsb3233]

They definitely have some odd gaps. I think the gap between Albuquerque and El Paso is going to be a big pain for me. That one seems easy to fix with just one station in between. I20 and I55 in Louisiana and Mississippi are odd to me as well.

ALB-ELP doesn't even look possible without staying the night in Socorro and filling up overnight at that one expensive hotel charger.

 

[MachMeNow]

While chargers everywhere would be great, DeKalb strikes me as a likely low priority.

Careful now, no dissing my home county? I mean, where will I charge up when observing the World Famous Sycamore Pumpkin Festival???

 

[sockmeister]

That's a pretty good reply, although I wasn't too happy about their 'next round of investment' starting in 2022. Honestly, that should be happening now to help support all the new non-Tesla EVs hitting the roads THIS year. Starting the investment 8 months from now means it'll be at least another 12-16 months before we actually see more chargers due to the usual timeline for land acquisition, permitting, and electric utility coordination. Let's hope they're starting that design and permitting process this summer, which will allow them to actually build the new chargers by early 2022.

Don't forget, there are rumors that Tesla is going to start opening up superchargers to non-Tesla EVs

 

[dbsb3233]

Don't forget, there are rumors that Tesla is going to start opening up superchargers to non-Tesla EVs

I'll be surprised if that happens anytime soon. I do think it's eventual (mid-decade?), but Telsa proprietary is quickly becoming the Bexamax of chargers -- fast start but the broader standard will eventually swallow it up.

 

[dbsb3233]

That's a pretty good reply, although I wasn't too happy about their 'next round of investment' starting in 2022. Honestly, that should be happening now to help support all the new non-Tesla EVs hitting the roads THIS year. Starting the investment 8 months from now means it'll be at least another 12-16 months before we actually see more chargers due to the usual timeline for land acquisition, permitting, and electric utility coordination. Let's hope they're starting that design and permitting process this summer, which will allow them to actually build the new chargers by early 2022.

The "Coming Soon" chargers on the EA map show where the current investment is going. They are filling in a few road trip gaps, but unfortunately a big chunk of chargers are being allocated to cities. Check out Las Vegas. 1 active charger now, 9 on the way. Denver is midway through the same explosion. We had 4 a year ago, now there's 14 active today, with 8 more coming.

 

[EVmodeler]

I just realized . . . WV backwards is VW . . . I think it has some hidden meaning, just like the White Album played backwards. Maybe there is some significance to the VW WV hole??

Dieselgate originated at the WV University emissions lab.

 

[Illinibird]

Careful now, no dissing my home county? I mean, where will I charge up when observing the World Famous Sycamore Pumpkin Festival???

Watch it Buddy! The Pumpkin Festival IS a big deal and a lot of fun for the kids. All three of my grandchildren love it and my two grandsons worked at booths as Cub/Boy Scouts. They have a Corn Fest up there too but I've never attended. My daughter, who is an NIU assistant professor, also works part-time weekends (B-95 FM, Aimee Michaels Show Sat & Sun) at a local FM station and she always has to work the boards/equipment back at the station during Corn Fest. As far as charging up goes, there are three Level 2 ChargePoint EV charging stations at the Water Reclamation Building in DeKalb (these are free) and a few Level 2 chargers on the NIU campus. What I'm trying to get EA to do is add DC fast chargers at the DeKalb Oasis (in middle of tollway) that would serve the university traffic as well as the east/west bound traffic on I-88. EA has three fast chargers in Aurora but none further west on I-88. There are also some big box stores right off I-88 in DeKalb/Sycamore such as Target, Walmart and Meijers.

 

[sockmeister]

I'll be surprised if that happens anytime soon. I do think it's eventual (mid-decade?), but Telsa proprietary is quickly becoming the Bexamax of chargers -- fast start but the broader standard will eventually swallow it up.

Then again, we all know it's Tesla. They can change any manner of things on a complete whim (Elon's whim).
Apparently this was something that he announced to his staff during an internal call. It might happen sooner than that -- they'd probably use it as a revenue stream.

 

[dbsb3233]

Then again, we all know it's Tesla. They can change any manner of things on a complete whim (Elon's whim).
Apparently this was something that he announced to his staff during an internal call. It might happen sooner than that -- they'd probably use it as a revenue stream.

That would be great for us if it happens. But they'd take a hit from their current owners, and probably to their sales as the exclusive Supercharger network is a significant selling point. It would start getting a lot more crowded. They'd have to decide if the extra revenue is more than the losses.

For us, I guess it would come down to the connectors, and the pricing. They might make CCS more expensive and give Teslas an automatic discount. Although that wouldn't be entirely bad as just having Superchargers as a quick emergency bottom-up option is still a plus.

 

[TheVirtualTim]

I'd like to see one go in near Ft. Wayne Indiana. From Michigan, if I head South I would either go down I-75 (if headed toward, say Florida) or I-69 (if headed toward, say Texas). There is an EA charger in Dayton Ohio and that station is about 200 miles south of Detroit ... within reach on a single charge.

But if you head out via I-69 the nearest station is Indianapolis ... 280 miles from Detroit and that's too much of a stretch. A car would comfortably make it to Ft. Wayne if they would add a station there.

BTW, there are some stations in northern Ohio and I was thinking I could just add a short charge at one of those stations. Unfortunately those are located on the Ohio Turnpike in the service plazas. That's GREAT for anyone using the Turnpike to go East/West ... but basically all but inaccessible to anyone traveling North/South. The Turnpike only occasionally has entrance/exit ramps and the stations aren't located anywhere near these. You would have to enter the Turnpike and drive until you find a service plaza .... at which point you CANNOT turn around after the charge and have to continue down the turnpike until you eventually find an exit where you can turn around ... then drive all the way back. They basically aren't usable at all to North/South traffic using I-75 or I-69.

Sponsored