This is a worrisome situation, and may spread to the rest of the country unless EV charging infrastructure can get ahead of increasing EV ownership. The slow buildout of NEVI stations so far is not a positive sign. And weren’t the hardware upgrades supposed to reduce the availability problems?
cekmysnek
I’ve come across a retired dude who literally DC charges every single day. The town he lives in only has a single DCFC (there’s more under construction now thankfully) but if someone needs to use the charger, they sometimes have to wait for up to an hour until this guy is topped up at 100% and eventually moves.
There needs to be a serious push for easily accessible, affordable AC charging, whether that’s at retail outlets, workplaces or even along the street. That’s slowly happening here in Australia and other parts of the world but nowhere near as fast as it needs to, and it’s so frustrating doing a long road trip and coming across locals at chargers who could easily be using 11-22kW AC if it was available.
Incentivise building more AC charging and save the DC chargers for people who urgently need to top up. Unless it’s ridiculously expensive, I will ALWAYS use AC if I’m doing a long stop because it’s cheaper and I can add 80% to my car in less than 6 hours.
jeaann
4 dispenser installations in these areas with so many EVs are terrible decisions… of course there’s going to be long lines. EA needs to get it together
Quick_Possibility_99
I wonder if Orange County is better, Irvine, CA should have chargers everywhere. It is hard to justify putting in Level 2 if your house was built before the 70’s. The wiring in the home needs a full upgrade.
neurodude
I’m familiar with the exact location of the EA charger in the video and it’s a line to use it 95% of the time when it isn’t broken. It’s frustrating that EA doesn’t build more charging stations when they know there is a demand and it doesn’t seem like they care enough to do anything about it.
Wants-NotNeeds
Nearly everything I hear says EA sucks; constantly broken chargers, not enough chargers, crowded charging areas. I do remember one person saying they were able to drive across country, using primarily EA, and it was OK. Charge Point, in the other hand, seems to have a better reputation
I just started driving a Tesla and it’s been quite convenient and fast at all the Super Chargers I have used. Do the other brands not have a multitude of different charging stations from a variety of manufacturers to choose from? Seems like they’re all over the place – shopping centers, restaurants, hotels, apartments, charging specific centers, etc. Is that not the case?
Obviously, it’s location dependent – and maybe this video is just highlighting a problem area for clicks. What’s been everyone else’s (who don’t use Tesla superchargers). experience?
faizimam
For road trippers who actually pay for their charging, the key will be the growth of non EA infrastructure. Luckily many other companies are finally getting units in the ground
kenypowa
Weird. This is contrary to some EA fanboys who claim their EA stations in SoCal is flawless and comparable to Tesla Superchargers.
slmask
I watched this video earlier today and wondering if Oos reports the broken dispensers or not. I reported a dispenser a week ago at a station that had a melted card reader. I pulled up to it yesterday and the card reader was replaced.
9 Comments
This is a worrisome situation, and may spread to the rest of the country unless EV charging infrastructure can get ahead of increasing EV ownership. The slow buildout of NEVI stations so far is not a positive sign. And weren’t the hardware upgrades supposed to reduce the availability problems?
I’ve come across a retired dude who literally DC charges every single day. The town he lives in only has a single DCFC (there’s more under construction now thankfully) but if someone needs to use the charger, they sometimes have to wait for up to an hour until this guy is topped up at 100% and eventually moves.
There needs to be a serious push for easily accessible, affordable AC charging, whether that’s at retail outlets, workplaces or even along the street. That’s slowly happening here in Australia and other parts of the world but nowhere near as fast as it needs to, and it’s so frustrating doing a long road trip and coming across locals at chargers who could easily be using 11-22kW AC if it was available.
Incentivise building more AC charging and save the DC chargers for people who urgently need to top up. Unless it’s ridiculously expensive, I will ALWAYS use AC if I’m doing a long stop because it’s cheaper and I can add 80% to my car in less than 6 hours.
4 dispenser installations in these areas with so many EVs are terrible decisions… of course there’s going to be long lines. EA needs to get it together
I wonder if Orange County is better, Irvine, CA should have chargers everywhere. It is hard to justify putting in Level 2 if your house was built before the 70’s. The wiring in the home needs a full upgrade.
I’m familiar with the exact location of the EA charger in the video and it’s a line to use it 95% of the time when it isn’t broken. It’s frustrating that EA doesn’t build more charging stations when they know there is a demand and it doesn’t seem like they care enough to do anything about it.
Nearly everything I hear says EA sucks; constantly broken chargers, not enough chargers, crowded charging areas. I do remember one person saying they were able to drive across country, using primarily EA, and it was OK. Charge Point, in the other hand, seems to have a better reputation
I just started driving a Tesla and it’s been quite convenient and fast at all the Super Chargers I have used. Do the other brands not have a multitude of different charging stations from a variety of manufacturers to choose from? Seems like they’re all over the place – shopping centers, restaurants, hotels, apartments, charging specific centers, etc. Is that not the case?
Obviously, it’s location dependent – and maybe this video is just highlighting a problem area for clicks. What’s been everyone else’s (who don’t use Tesla superchargers). experience?
For road trippers who actually pay for their charging, the key will be the growth of non EA infrastructure. Luckily many other companies are finally getting units in the ground
Weird. This is contrary to some EA fanboys who claim their EA stations in SoCal is flawless and comparable to Tesla Superchargers.
I watched this video earlier today and wondering if Oos reports the broken dispensers or not. I reported a dispenser a week ago at a station that had a melted card reader. I pulled up to it yesterday and the card reader was replaced.