Other EVs ruin my trips

[Hillbilly]

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.

I can't even sit in the Rivian when fast charging in hot weather. Always end up looking for a place to cool off.

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[SoCal Rob]

I can't even sit in the Rivian when fast charging in hot weather. Always end up looking for a place to cool off.

I haven’t had a problem, even in 100°+ temps. I keep sun shades on the roof all summer and when charging if facing the sun I put our windshield sun shade up.

I think the trick in really high temps with no shade is to leave the air conditioning on. Once the cabin gets to 120° or more it’s a struggle to cool everything back down.

We have an Ocean Coast interior because we spend a lot of time in the desert, so I imagine the darker color seats can get even hotter.?

 

[DucRider]

Another factor is the free charging that some manufacturers are providing. It encourages charging when not needed. Pulling in at 63% and leaving at 75% is a typical example of someone opportunity charging.

 

[R1Sky Business]

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.

Free unlimited charging for a few yrs....

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