Range Anxiety - Is it Real???

[SeaGeo]

Government mandated creation of an EV charging station subsidiary as a fine for emissions violations. Brilliant.

EA is owned by Volkwagen and it's creation was forced by the government as punishment for them cheating emissions standards. Why in the world would anyone think this setup is going to work is beyond me.

Except that they're a company who's interested in turning a profit. They've done a hell of a lot better job creating and managing a network than the other CCS networks.

Sponsored

 

[Gator42]

EA is owned by Volkwagen and it's creation was forced by the government as punishment for them cheating emissions standards. Why in the world would anyone think this setup is going to work is beyond me

Yah, the concern is the legal obligations are fulfilled, VW moves on and EA partners look elsewhere.

Maybe government will find others to punish…though perhaps they are too busy writing mandates for the new charging networks they’re mandating…

 

[DJG]

Yah, the concern is the legal obligations are fulfilled, VW moves on and EA partners look elsewhere.

Maybe government will find others to punish…though perhaps they are too busy writing mandates for the new charging networks they’re mandating…

VW has been looking for a buyer to offload EA, or just take them public. They won't be owned by them long term, and the origins of their existence really don't matter anymore.

 

[RivianXpress]

Just curious on why you feel like EA's reliability has decreased over the past year?

I find EA reliability a million times better from my first CCS road trips in 2019. This year alone I have been to PHX twice, Vegas three times, Salt Lake City once, and Kansas City once in my Taycan.

I have never had an issue.

Obviously, the EA network is not perfect, and no charging network will every be, so curious why you think it is less reliable? Have you been stranded somewhere?

I can tell you the EA charger network sucked this week in Vegas, Phoenix, Baker, Barstow and Mojave.

I’ll detail my 2000 mile trip but suffice to say I had 36 kW max at three different charger locations, broken chargers at three different spots and my success rate was about 50% for the the entire trip with 17 charge sessions.

 

[Denver_Paulie]

I can tell you the EA charger network sucked this week in Vegas, Phoenix, Baker, Barstow and Mojave.

I’ll detail my 2000 mile trip but suffice to say I had 36 kW max at three different charger locations, broken chargers at three different spots and my success rate was about 50% for the the entire trip with 17 charge sessions.

I saw your comments. I would bet that it is Electrify America throttling charging speeds due to the heat. I have seen it before - last July I hit 4 straight chargers in a 500 mile stretch through eastern Colorado and Kansas that wouldn't allow me to charge over 50kW in a car that can charge up to 270kW max.

I get the frustration level since I lived it as well.

 

[bigtex]

I had the 36kw charge speeds on a 350kw station last week. 7am (not hot) with no other vehicles charging.

 

[Denver_Paulie]

I had the 36kw charge speeds on a 350kw station last week. 7am (not hot) with no other vehicles charging.

In what? Your profile does not list an EV. Also, where were you?

Also, did you try move charging cabinets to see if others were working at faster speeds?

 

[bigtex]

Sorry, R1T. Trying to charge in Ennis Texas on my way to Houston. Yes, I tried 3 cabinets. Called EA and they hard rebooted one cabinet. No luck. Finally got enough to make it to next EA station 100 miles away. It charged fine.

 

[Denver_Paulie]

Sorry, R1T. Trying to charge in Ennis Texas on my way to Houston. Yes, I tried 3 cabinets. Called EA and they hard rebooted one cabinet. No luck. Finally got enough to make it to next EA station 100 miles away. It charged fine.

Not trying be a hard ass, but Electrify America will not improve without continual feedback on lack of performance. Hopefully, you will sign up in Plugshare and leave feedback next time you use a public charger.

This is a good habit to get into and it helps out others in the community.

 

[EVTrucking]

There’s a conflation of a couple of ideas going on here- A) range anxiety and 2) the reliability of the charging infrastructure. It’s easy to dismiss this stress test as silly but the present state of storage and charging curves means for the foreseeable future drivers will be making cross country routes planned to stop at unfamiliar stations with only a few miles to spare. EA’s gonna burn a bunch of us.

Tow trucks are gonna need the gerry can chargers on board ASAP…

Range anxiety is justified and real. It should compel careful planning but that is not always enough and it is unfair to simply blame the EV driver.

The CCS network is immature, significantly incomplete, poorly executed and maintained. However, it is early in the conversion from ICE to EV and will get better as will EV range and charging time.

The CCS network currently is a patchwork with some areas/routes better served than other areas/routes. This is easily confirmed by using any/all of the available charging apps to plan trips to a variety of places. You will find everything from no charging to many off line charging ports, poor ratings, no amenities ect…. If you live and travel in a well served area then great but if not then SOL.

There are still places in the US where getting gas when you can is essential.

RANGE ANXIETY REAL!!!

Sponsored