Other EVs ruin my trips

[Dynabro86]

Small rant but I'm curious if I just have bad luck. Right now, any trips I take long distance, I am at the mercy of EA DCFC. The 2 stations I've been using only have 4 stalls available. Everytime I arrive, there is ALWAYS a Chevy bolt, a Mach E, or ID4 charging at the 350kw fast charger, leaving me to use the 150kw. I haven't really had issues with the chargers not working, but the stations I use charge by the min at speeds above 90kw... So I'm paying the same price per min at a 150kw station when I could be getting 220kw out of the faster charger. Whatever it just means my charging sessions are 10 mins longer (normally I'm charging from 20% to 80%)
My real issue is this... Most of the vehicles that use the fast charger cannot utilize the speeds above 150kw anyways, yet that is the first stall they pull into. Also, I have been noticing at BUSY stations, people are rolling in with like a already decently high SOC, and topping off past 90%. Last week I saw a Hyundai ionic 6 pull in with 30% battery, and sat there for an hour charging to 96%. Then right when he left, a Ford lightning pulled in with 63% SOC and charged to 78%... Meantime, there is a legit line of 4 cars waiting to use the 3 EA stations available (because naturally one was broken). I had to wait 45 mins to use a station, then it took me 33 mins to get to my 75% soc to make it back home.

I feel like some people are just uneducated about how they should approach fast charging, how the charging curves work and what stations should be used with slower charging vehicles.

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[COdogman]

It's fair criticism, but we have no idea why that person topped off do we? Maybe they are road tripping and needed to be close to 100% to get to their next stop? Or maybe they are just rude and don't care if they hold others up...anything is possible in this world ?‍

 

[jjswan33]

FWIW you are right people don't understand their cars for the most part but that said the difference between charging on a 150kW and a 350kW EA station is a few min at most. This has been tested.

The 150kW can get up to 165kW on an R1 and while the 350kW can get 220kW the battery will heat up and won't hold those speeds very long.. and in the end the difference is small.

 

[Count Orlok]

the person behind you just posted on a Lightning forum about some fool in a Rivian who sat there and charged all the way to 75%

 

[Dynabro86]

Haha love it! Dang Rivian in the 150kw station went to 75% like a fool!!!

Honestly I'm not really mad at other drivers. I feel like most people still get range anxiety with the vehicles and I can totally see why they feel like charging up more then I would go is making them feel more secure.

I guess the real issue is infrastructure. If all the stations were 350kw I wouldn't give a darn who charged where.

 

[SoCal Rob]

FWIW you are right people don't understand their cars for the most part but that said the difference between charging on a 150kW and a 350kW EA station is a few min at most. This has been tested.

The 150kW can get up to 165kW on an R1 and while the 350kW can get 220kW the battery will heat up and won't hold those speeds very long.. and in the end the difference is small.

If given a choice between 150kW and 350kW I typically use the 150kW because of the thermal throttling you mentioned. I’m sure there must be a reason, but I don’t understand why the Rivian doesn’t keep the A/C on high when a DCFC session is initiated and the external temp is above 50°F or whatever makes sense. It seems like it reduces the cooling until the battery is too hot and then goes to max. This seems counterintuitive to me, but I’m not an engineer.

 

[Davethadog]

Imagine when someone with an 800v car pulls up to see you in “their” spot. Supercharging isn’t quite in its infancy but it’s still a toddler. You signed up for annoyances on road trips when you bought an EV, it’s just part of it.

 

[jjswan33]

If all the stations were 350kw I wouldn't give a darn who charged where.

It's the future. Any new installs at EA seem to be 350kW, I don't think the newest hardware even comes with a 150kW option. For example Madras, OR EA just came online recently with 6 350kW spots. They likely have some power sharing but that helps resolve the slow charging vehicle problem.

 

[electruck]

I find most of my problems in life are caused by other people.

 

[emoore]

It's the future. Any new installs at EA seem to be 350kW, I don't think the newest hardware even comes with a 150kW option. For example Madras, OR EA just came online recently with 6 350kW spots. They likely have some power sharing but that helps resolve the slow charging vehicle problem.

Yep all the new EA stations are 350kw.

 

[André]

I was used to be annoyed by people taking fuel in the only stall with diesel available while all other stalls were unused and they saw me waiting for them to go with my Sprinter… ?

 

[Dynabro86]

It's the future. Any new installs at EA seem to be 350kW, I don't think the newest hardware even comes with a 150kW option. For example Madras, OR EA just came online recently with 6 350kW spots. They likely have some power sharing but that helps resolve the slow charging vehicle problem.

Well this is good to know!
I feel like charging infrastructure is just going to get better and in a few years most of my complains will be definitely in the past.

 

[emoore]

Well this is good to know!
I feel like charging infrastructure is just going to get better and in a few years most of my complains will be definitely in the past.

But 150 kw or 350 kw doesn’t matter much on a Rivian assuming the chargers are working properly.

 

[Dynabro86]

It is like a 10 min difference in ideal conditions. In the whole scheme of things it really isn't a huge difference.

As long as no one else is at the station then IDC about being at a faster charger, but I def would probably move out of a 350kw stall if a ionic 5 showed up and my charging was ramped down due to temps anyways.

 

[emoore]

It is like a 10 min difference in ideal conditions. In the whole scheme of things it really isn't a huge difference.

As long as no one else is at the station then IDC about being at a faster charger, but I def would probably move out of a 350kw stall if a ionic 5 showed up and my charging was ramped down due to temps anyways.

Much high chance a 350 gets throttled than a 150.

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