• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Want To Buy An EV? Warning: Charging Stations Are (Often) Broken

Richard Cranium

FBBO Gold Member
FBBO Gold Member
Local time
4:42 AM
Joined
Feb 20, 2012
Messages
58,008
Reaction score
197,566
Location
Maskachusetts

Want To Buy An EV? Warning: Charging Stations Are (Often) Broken​



Jan 15, 2023
https://policies.google.com/privacy

960x0.jpg

Electrify America charging location in Santa Clarita, Calif.

I’m an EV proponent. The more EVs on the road the better. There’s a hitch, though. The more EVs that hit the road, the worse charging infrastructure reliability seems to get.

Electrify America had a great buildout but bad follow-through


I’ve been driving an EV since the dawn of commercial electric cars. That’s actually not a long time. A little more than 10 years. But it’s plenty of time to become an expert on the charging infrastructure in a city (and state) with high EV adoption. That would be Los Angeles.

Electrify America has been building out its charging network across California and Los Angeles at a furious pace. It’s now the public Level 3 fast-charging station of choice for the majority of non-Tesla EV owners in Los Angeles. And I presume the U.S. as a whole.

For example, as of early 2023, in Santa Clarita Valley (a Los Angeles suburb) there are three separate Electrify America locations (gas-car analogy: think three gas stations). Only a few years ago there were none.

That’s the good news.

The bad news is that most of the time — based* on my experience — at least half of the chargers are down. It’s a crapshoot every time you try to “fill up.”

Imagine if every time you went to the gas station, it was a 50-50 proposition that the pump would work. And imagine that sometimes (not so rarely) none of the pumps worked.

Plug and pray​


The following is an all-too-typical example. Last night (as of the time I wrote this), I went to an Electrify America Walmart location in Santa Clarita with 6 chargers.

Most of the chargers appeared to be working. I plugged into a new “Hyper-Fast” charger (recently installed) and prayed. To little avail. I was getting a charge but at a rate barely above Level 2 charging rates. That means I would have to sit there for hours for a full charge.

So, I called Electrify America support and explained the problem. The support person recognized that Level 2 charging rates on a Hyper-Fast 350 kW charger was a problem. She rebooted the charger and I tried again. Same thing.

The charger next to me was down and rest were being used. I was pressed for time, so, I decided to go to another Electrify America location in Stevenson Ranch (in Santa Clarita Valley). I got a charge at fast Level 3 rates but out of four chargers, only one was working.

I could go on and on but I think you get the picture....this is not the exception but the rule.

(In another recent example over the Christmas holiday, I tried to charge at an Electrify America charging location in Century City Los Angeles: all four chargers were down.)

It’s not entirely bad news​

I have to give Electrify America credit where credit is due. There is an Electrify America charging station in the tiny town of Mojave, Calif. (in the Mojave Desert) that always seems to work (at least when I go there).

That’s really important because when I go there (most recently, two weeks ago) it’s do or die, plug in or perish: if I can’t get a charge, I would have to search for a wall socket.

So, it’s not all bad news and there are days when all of the chargers at a given Electrify America charging location appear to be working but that’s pretty rare these days.

I reached out to Electrify America (weeks ago) for comment but have yet to receive a response. That said, I’ve spoken to support people at Electrify America fairly often and they’ve always been polite and helpful. But that doesn’t fix the problem.

Update: I reached a media relations person at Electrify America. The spokesperson told me that that the chargers either have been repaired or are in the process of being repaired at the locations mentioned above.

The spokesperson also provided the following comment:
“During the last two years, we have faced many challenges, especially part shortages in our supply chain like other companies. While at the same time, experiencing a tremendous growth in demand in our network. In 2021, for example, we powered 1.4 million charging sessions or five times the sessions in 2020. In addition, in the first half of 2022 alone, we provided more sessions than all of 2021.”

——
*I use Electrify America chargers frequently in Los Angeles. In the last few months, 3-4 times a week.

960x0.jpg
 
Liberal Climate Change - EVs truth about batteries.jpg


Thanks RC, good read

Yet another nail in that 'proverbial coffin'
*1 the market & especially infrastructure isn't ready for them
*2 1%-3% sales nobody ever talks about
*3 fires you can't put out
*4 cost to charge them to 100% daily (not cheap)
*5 the cost to the planet, dirty ****, to mine that ****
& getting it from our enemies/adversaries, we are funding them,
to attack US
*6 no matter how much the current govt. pushed them on US
& the market

Liberal Climate Change - EVs the great Delusion.jpg
 
My wife and I were out exploring the east county here a few weeks ago looking for upcoming wild flower viewing areas. There were some pretty remote areas around and I had an idea. What about putting up dummy charge stations for the EV idiots? Have them powered by small panels with the screen telling them it will take 7 days or more to fill them up. Put some hidden cameras around to film the boobs when they fall for it.
 
i rented a e Mustang for a 200m round trip to the coast. Severe range anxiety on way home: 2 of 3 charger stations were broken, and the "Super" charger did not fit the Ford. NEVER AGAIN!!
 
The White House was with-out power today and had to Post pone the investigations into the Crimes of the Biden family and his corrupt administration. Done by design I am sure..
 
My wife and I were out exploring the east county here a few weeks ago looking for upcoming wild flower viewing areas. There were some pretty remote areas around and I had an idea. What about putting up dummy charge stations for the EV idiots? Have them powered by small panels with the screen telling them it will take 7 days or more to fill them up. Put some hidden cameras around to film the boobs when they fall for it.
My kinda guy!

:rofl:
 
I got no issue with anyone that wants to get an EV. In some situations it might even make sense, depends on use and area.
Don't force me to buy one. Where I live it would be an absolute nightmare.
But the gov't IS forcing us to buy them, with laws banning ICE from public roads on the books.

I suspect the reason the chargers don;t work is because the gov't program that funneled tax money to that company didn;t specify the need to make sure they actually work.
You will have to pay some more taxes if you expect them to maintain them after install.
Curious the term used is "sessions" in the comment. Maybe they should use "successful sessions" and stop counting the times people plug in and hit start and find out it is broken. Turns out you can spin a quantity to a really high number if people have to plug in 4 times to charge once.

Not sure why this EV thing is being pushed so hard, other then a small group want to run your life for you and value an "off" switch if you misbehave. Stuff like this needs to happen organically. Legislating it into existence never works. If we wanted alternative fuels, BMW had a 7 series in the early 90's that ran on the hydrogen tech. They didn;t pursue very long because, and I quote: "There is no infrastructure in place. Gas station networks exist. Someone would have to build a new one."
And yet we are willing to spend trillions on charging stations almost 30 years later. EV are less efficient. There is less energy in electricity then in fossil fuel, and production of electricity is a constant story of diminishing to the end user from point of origin.
Japan is going to build Hydrogen infrastructure. Sure, they are a smaller country, but their choice is based on logic and investment in the future and practicality, not control and hippie dreams.

Don't force me to buy one of these things and I will congratulate you on your enjoyment of an EV. Too bad this concept is inconcievable and infuriating to the ones pushing for them.
 
Not sure why this EV thing is being pushed so hard, other then a small group want to run your life for you and value an "off" switch if you misbehave.

It's all about control and also giving their friends in the (so-called) green energy business the ability to make billions.
 
Beanhead, the area was Soda Lake rd off 58 plus Pozo rd from the east side.
 
Here's a hybrid for you...a Stutz Lazlo. It runs on petrol, and coal.
 
EV's suck! latest world wide pollution measurements have increased. They pollute more to manufacture than internal combustion engine powered vehicles. Currently Hybrids are the way to go until the electric infrastructure is improved. Otherwise enjoy your wait at the broken charging stations. I love the smell of hydrocarbons in the morning! ☆☆☆☆☆
 
I read a letter to the editors of the latest Car & Driver mag about someone with a Ford Mach E whose brakes were corroded out beyond serviceable limits in 6900 miles by the brake regenerative system. Ford said not a warranty issue but standard wear & tear. It required full disc and pad replacement. Not sure I fully understand the cause as it’s not braking wear but some form of corrosion from the regenerative charging system. The editor says it’s something that caught the EV manufacturers by surprise and it’s affecting Teslas too. The writer said he has taken to shifting into neutral on downgrades and riding his brakes as a preventative measure to clean the discs and save them from the corrosive effects of the system.

Considering the extra weight of most of these EVs, a brake job about every 20 - 25k miles is probably going to be the standard even under the best of circumstances.
 
I read a letter to the editors of the latest Car & Driver mag about someone with a Ford Mach E whose brakes were corroded out beyond serviceable limits in 6900 miles by the brake regenerative system. Ford said not a warranty issue but standard wear & tear. It required full disc and pad replacement. Not sure I fully understand the cause as it’s not braking wear but some form of corrosion from the regenerative charging system. The editor says it’s something that caught the EV manufacturers by surprise and it’s affecting Teslas too. The writer said he has taken to shifting into neutral on downgrades and riding his brakes as a preventative measure to clean the discs and save them from the corrosive effects of the system.

Considering the extra weight of most of these EVs, a brake job about every 20 - 25k miles is probably going to be the standard even under the best of circumstances.
Maybe Ford is doing something wrong? I do know that most hybrid cars get fantastic brake mileage since regenerative braking takes the place of pad wear in many instances. The Prius taxis in Vancouver can get 200,000 miles on a set of pads. My wife and brother both have hybrids, a Lexus SUV and a Toyota Camry, and brake life is great. And no trace of corrosion - why would there be?
 
The Prius cab I had from airport to North Van was heavy on start and stop so brake pads warmed up some
 
I can’t explain that but if you are by a news stand look at a Car & Driver and letters to the Editor. It seems to suggest that during coasting regeneration, some form of corrosive deposits are deposited on the rotors. Maybe they never use their brakes? The editor seems to have some knowledge of the issue in the industry but who knows. He did mention the Audi Q8 e-tron will exercise its friction brakes periodically to clean the deposits off and try to control the issue.
 
I saw on the news,crack and meth heads are cutting the cords off the charging stations and scrapping them for drug money!
 
Auto Transport Service
Back
Top