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I visited over 120 EV chargers: why so many were broken

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Re: I visited over 120 EV chargers: why so many were broken

#191

Post by matt-attack »

fragmede wrote: post #179
RamblingCTO wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, this technology is probably simpler and way more mature than EV.

way more mature, sure, but simpler? it has to vend a liquid and measure its amount and then charge you at the pump a specific amount. whereas the EV chargers are a cable and an Internet connection.

Don’t forget gas pumps also have to remove and store vapors from the vehicles’ tanks. So I agree, waaaay more complicated. Other than contractors, I’d imagine there are no moving parts on an ev charger.

Re: I visited over 120 EV chargers: why so many were broken

#192

Post by giantg2 »

smileysteve wrote: post #130
giantg2 wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm usually seeing charging at the front of the parking lots around me. It also wouldn't surprise me if the attendants from charging stations were largely useless as I assume an electrician license would be required for most repairs in most states. But I agree on the whole no cash or app payment thing.

A gas station attendant isn't likely to fix a breakaway hose or pressure nozzle any more than they're going to replace a 240 to 400v cable. An attendant can reset a pump or circuit breaker though. And more importantly place the service call or call the police for a vandal.

You would think resetting a breaker could be automatically or remotely done based on some telemetry from a self diagnostic system (or lack of expected telemetry). I would think remotely monitored cameras and a voice interface (would be a nice feature) on the charger would be a more efficient way for watching vandalism and communicating with customers.

Re: I visited over 120 EV chargers: why so many were broken

#194

Post by Waterluvian »

rcxdude wrote: post #189
underdeserver wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> These charging stations were built with a business model of set-it-and-forget-it. This doesn’t work. Except it does work for Tesla chargers. I never had any issues when using superchargers. But connect to a fast charging station operated by one of the other vendors - payment doesn't work, it's out of order, handshake issues. I have no other explanation except the hardware and software are low quality.

It could also be faster maintenance response. If Tesla actually fixes their chargers quickly then you would tend not to see it even if the base reliability is lower.

Yeah, maybe.

I’ve seen out of order gas pumps all the time. But never for long. They fix them fast.

Re: I visited over 120 EV chargers: why so many were broken

#195

Post by api »

theshrike79 wrote: post #134
smileysteve wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except Tesla figured out the feed and nobody else has. It's also a difficult investment for businesses (gas stations) because with ev adoption, everybody with 120v and a <60 mile daily commute is likely to charge at home 75% of the time

From what I've experienced and heard from other EV users, people who charge at home don't care what charging on the road costs. You charge at home for 80-90% of the time or even more. Practically all day to day driving is extremely cheap, especially with market rate power and some home automation. I've got a pretty expensive setup (rented apartment + 3rd party charger) and it costs me 5,70€ to charge my car from 0-10…

This is true. A full 230 miles worth of charge for our Nissan Leaf at home is like $8.

Re: I visited over 120 EV chargers: why so many were broken

#196

Post by Schiendelman »

lmm wrote: post #149
smileysteve wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But what about gas? Race track, loves, shell. They all offer gasoline discounts if you have their app.

But, crucially, you can ignore all that and just pay with a plain card, or even cash if you want. EVs need to match that.

To be clear, they pretty much already do. There are only a handful of companies that require an app install. Filtering chargers nearby by company/tap-to-pay is probably a few months away from one of the mapping apps.

Re: I visited over 120 EV chargers: why so many were broken

#197

Post by onetokeoverthe »

stephenr wrote: post #78
nathanaldensr wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess, downvoted because you dared share an anecdote about how vulnerable EVs are in certain circumstances? It seems like people will have to relearn the hard way just why gasoline is probably the best energy storage medium ever invented.

Did you miss the part where they said they also couldn't find any dinosaur juice either?

[dead]

Re: I visited over 120 EV chargers: why so many were broken

#198

Post by Schiendelman »

djbusby wrote: post #33
Qwertious wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The funny thing is that electrical charging isn't fully standardized, but somehow hydrocarbons are.

Gas and Oil didn't start off as standardized (nothing does) - got there over time. I'm sure EV will get there - eventually. Needs a standards group like ASTM maybe.

We’re there already - everyone has adopted NACS. Interestingly, the standards group was the problem…

Re: I visited over 120 EV chargers: why so many were broken

#199

Post by Schiendelman »

jacobsenscott wrote: post #49
Qwertious wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The funny thing is that electrical charging isn't fully standardized, but somehow hydrocarbons are.

This will require government regulation, which won't happen until there are enough angry EV drivers to get political attention, and then enough political will to overcome the corporate lobbyists fighting standardization. Remember standardization is good for consumers and bad for producers. Look how long it took to force apple to use usb-c chargers.

This doesn’t make sense. There’s already a standard everyone has adopted (NACS). Tesla has chargers which will start becoming available to other drivers next year. Other companies will compete or die.

Re: I visited over 120 EV chargers: why so many were broken

#200

Post by Schiendelman »

pugworthy wrote: post #141
jandrese wrote: post #108

IMHO the state of the charging network is a major disincentive against buying any CCS equipped EV in the US. Fortunately over the next couple of years every company is switching to NACS and will in theory be able to use Tesla's charging network. This is not great news for the cars bought this year or next though, it would be like buying Betamax.

If all the adoption does is mean you can use Tesla chargers, that's not a great positive. If existing stations upgrade the plug it doesn't make the charging station any more reliable or the payment system any better.

Right, what will happen is, everyone will start charging at Tesla chargers, and the other companies will consolidate until they can convince people they are reliable enough to try.
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