Posted on 02/26/2023 4:02:24 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Owners of electric vehicles are finally admitting that recharging away from home is a total "logistical nightmare," between finding charging stations, and the fact that in the best case scenarios it takes 30 to 40 minutes, and up to two hours, to recharge.
"We're going through the planning process of how easily Maddie can get from Albany to Gettysburg [College] and where she can charge the car," said YouTube personality Steve Hammes, who leased a Hyunday Kona Electric SUV for his 17-year-old daughter, Maddie.
"It makes me a little nervous. We want fast chargers that take 30 to 40 minutes -- it would not make sense to sit at a Level 2 charger for hours. There isn't a good software tool that helps EV owners plan their trips," he told ABC News.
The report comes on the heels of the Biden administration's announcement that Tesla would open its Supercharger network to non-Tesla owners by the end of next year - a plan which includes 3,500 Tesla fast chargers and 4,000 of the slower, Level 2 chargers.
John Voelcker, an industry expert on EVs and the former editor of Green Car Reports, said this arrangement will allow Tesla to learn a lot about U.S. drivers -- "how you charge, where you drive and what car you have." He does not expect Tesla to commit to additional charging stations.
"Tesla does not want its highly reliable and tightly integrated charging network to be clogged with people whose cars can't charge as fast as Teslas," he told ABC News. -ABC News
To try and cope with an increase in EVs, the Biden administration's 2021 infrastructure law has a goal of installing 500,000 new chargers across the country - as well as dramatically boosting EV sales, by 2030.
That said, Voelcker hasn't seen much improvement in the nation's recharging infrastructure over the past four years, and says he's heard a food of complaints over dead chargers and 'sticky cables.'
"The incentive right now is to get stations in the ground," he said. "It's not making sure they actually work."
Car and Driver editor-in-chief Tony Quiroga, says he's now been forced to wander around a local Walmart in Burbank, California while his Tesla recharges. He's also become a regular at a Mohave, California Mexican restaurant, where a Telsa charger is located.
"I imagine an ecosystem will be built around charging stations eventually," he told ABC News. "Longer trips bring up flaws with EVs. People are leery of taking them on long trips -- that's why older EVs don't have 40,000 miles on them."
Last March Swedish automaker Volvo and Starbucks said they were teaming up to install as many as 60 DC fast chargers at 15 Starbucks stores along a 1,350-mile route that spans from Seattle to Denver.
Quiroga's sister, who lives in Northern California, takes her internal combustion car -- not her Tesla Model S -- when she needs to drive across the state. Even Quiroga's team of reporters has to carefully plan and calculate how far EV charging stations are when they conduct comparison tests among manufacturers. -ABC News
"These comparisons tests are a logistical nightmare. We plan meals around recharging the vehicles," said Quiroga. "We need to have the battery at 100% or close to it to test a vehicle's performance. We have to time everything -- it requires more work."
What's more, the range of EVs plummets in the cold, or if you use things like the heater.
Sharon Bragg of Clifton Park, New York, has to charge her Ford Mustang Mach-E GT more frequently in the winter months. The GT's EPA rating is 270 miles on a full charge. Bragg said it's closer to 200 in the colder weather. Last December a Level 2 charging plug got stuck in her Mach-E and would not budge. After multiple failed attempts by bystanders, she called an electrician, who blew hot air on the plug for 20 minutes to release it.
"The whole process took two hours," she told ABC News. "I was in the parking lot from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. It was a cold day."
That said, Quiroga of Car and Driver calls these inconveniences "teething pains," which he says have greatly improved over the years.
"Where we are now versus 10 years ago -- it's radically different," he said. "Range has tripled, even quintupled. Look at the Lucid Air -- it gets over 500 miles of range in a single charge."
Now if states like California could only provide an infrastructure robust enough to handle EV demand legislated over the next 10-15 years...
Gavin Newsom: So it shall be written. So it shall be done.
Unexpected!
Prepare for articles such as these, which run counter to the official narrative, to be labelled as disinformation by our government/media overlords.
Try to find a charger for your dead car on MLK Blvd.
The MARKET built refueling stations for gasoline cars. Because it is part of the capitalist economy, the owners are incented to keep the places (somewhat) nice, operational, and in good working order.
The GOVERNMENT is forcing EVs on us and is building charging stations. They will be like everything else the government does and touches — all fouled up, broken, no maintenance, vandalized — and nobody in government will give one sh!t.
***We want fast chargers that take 30 to 40 minutes***
And I can fill up with gas at almost any self-serve station in less than 10 minutes.
RE: ***We want fast chargers that take 30 to 40 minutes***
I’m not going to wait that long just to charge my car. NO WAY. Not especially when I am travelling.
Exactly right - because "they" will all have exemptions that allow "them" to use gas-powered vehicles.
who leased a Hyunday Kona Electric SUV for his 17-year-old daughter, Maddie.
So a lease? ok fine. But what parent would subject their 17 year old daughter to having to hang out in a parking lot for hours for her car to charge? No danger there.
NO WAY IN HELL would I put my daughter in an EV.
Dah!! Some people need to experience the burn from a hot stove before they get it.
Wait until thieves and muggers start viewing these public charging points as easy, target rich environments.
These are unmanned sections of a parking lot somewhere. Not a manned gas station.
Crank out the nuke plants, nickel/NiMH, Cobalt, Lithium, a mountainous supply of charging stations (Especially in cities/apartment complexes/condos that make eye balls sore), windmills, solar panels materials (Just because), etc... and welcome the Brave New World of dystopian Utopian reality. Sounds like progress, especially if rural living gets eradicated.
Try to find a charger for your dead car on MLK Blvd.
There will be plenty there. The Biden Admin, in the name of their new equity policy will mandate that many of their 500,000 charging stations must be built in “underserved communities”.
Don't forget about that $30,000 replacement battery.
That's what I want to do, wander around a China Mart in LA while my car tops up.
Snort~
The MARKET built refueling stations for gasoline cars. Because it is part of the capitalist economy, the owners are incented to keep the places (somewhat) nice, operational, and in good working order.
The GOVERNMENT is forcing EVs on us and is building charging stations. They will be like everything else the government does and touches — all fouled up, broken, no maintenance, vandalized — and nobody in government will give one sh!t.
Also built in places where no one needs them (see my last post) or wants them.
And fast charging EVs is great! Each and every time you do it, you shorten the life of battery pack and reduce the EV range!
‘Try to find a charger for your dead car on MLK Blvd.’
LOL… at least they can’t steal your cat.
They can shove the whole bloody EV experiment. WE DON’T WANT IT!
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