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Electrify America “fries” EVs at charging stations

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Re: Electrify America “fries” EVs at charging stations

#31

Post by helpfulclippy »

option wrote: post #15
tapoxi wrote: post #8

I will never buy a Tesla, but the CCS network is pretty garbage in the U.S. right now. EA regularly has outages, their newer models (which I have not used) fry vehicles or fail in cold weather, I've only heard bad things about EVGo but never used them. Fortunately I stick to home (Metro Boston) and haven't had any serious problems with ChargePoint stations heading up to Mount Desert Island in Maine, the farthest trip…

for certain large segments of EV buyers, especially in US, Tesla is objectively the best EV right now.

Agreed. Last year I literally put a spreadsheet together of every single electric car approved for sale in the US, with columns for every specification I cared about. I expected to find Tesla to be overhyped, just based on the fact that it is run by a relentless hypefiend. But for what I wanted (a hatchback with fast acceleration and decent range, and big enough to accommodate a bike without taking the wheel off), the Model Y came out on top.

Sometimes specs aren't everything of course. I don't buy Sony. I don't care what the PS5's specs look like -- I'm not buying Sony. I think I might have heard one or two people feel similarly about Elon and/or Tesla. ;)

Re: Electrify America “fries” EVs at charging stations

#32

Post by tapoxi »

option wrote: post #15
tapoxi wrote: post #8

I will never buy a Tesla, but the CCS network is pretty garbage in the U.S. right now. EA regularly has outages, their newer models (which I have not used) fry vehicles or fail in cold weather, I've only heard bad things about EVGo but never used them. Fortunately I stick to home (Metro Boston) and haven't had any serious problems with ChargePoint stations heading up to Mount Desert Island in Maine, the farthest trip…

for certain large segments of EV buyers, especially in US, Tesla is objectively the best EV right now.

They have a pretty poor safety record with regard to Autopilot/FSD, not to mention way too many controls are behind a tablet interface that you should not look at while driving. It also implies I'm endorsing Musk and I'd be embarrassed to drive it. I'd much rather take the pain of CCS with the hope that the infrastructure bill smooths things out or grants supercharger access to CCS vehicles.

Re: Electrify America “fries” EVs at charging stations

#33

Post by wara23arish »

helpfulclippy wrote: post #31
option wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

for certain large segments of EV buyers, especially in US, Tesla is objectively the best EV right now.

Agreed. Last year I literally put a spreadsheet together of every single electric car approved for sale in the US, with columns for every specification I cared about. I expected to find Tesla to be overhyped, just based on the fact that it is run by a relentless hypefiend. But for what I wanted (a hatchback with fast acceleration and decent range, and big enough to accommodate a bike without taking the wheel off), th…

im curious whats your problem with Sony? I’ve generally loved their products ever since using the CD players

Re: Electrify America “fries” EVs at charging stations

#34

Post by a4isms »

bryanlarsen wrote: post #26
zdragnar wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gas stations are usually franchises. Gas is sold on the thinnest of margins; it's the snacks inside the store and other things that actually generate a profit, and none of that but the franchise fee for the name actually goes to the oil company.

You'd think that a fast charger would be even more valuable. You've got a captive customer for ~20 minutes, should be even easier to sell them stuff. The problem is that it's enough time to walk to the restaurant next door rather than spending money at the gas station store. I'm sure somebody will figure it out. Probably something like the food court model rather than current gas stations which are basically convenie…

Time to rediscover the drive-in restaurant. Only in 2023, it has:

1. Fast charging in every spot;

2. Espresso and high-margin dessert-in-a-cup drinks served right to your vehicle;

3. Free high-speed unlimited WiFi for customers.

Why get out of your car to walk to the restaurant next door? Connect to the free WiFi, turn on the charging, and place your order.

Then relax in your car and leave a low-effort comment on Hacker News.

Re: Electrify America “fries” EVs at charging stations

#35

Post by option »

tapoxi wrote: post #32
option wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

for certain large segments of EV buyers, especially in US, Tesla is objectively the best EV right now.

They have a pretty poor safety record with regard to Autopilot/FSD, not to mention way too many controls are behind a tablet interface that you should not look at while driving. It also implies I'm endorsing Musk and I'd be embarrassed to drive it. I'd much rather take the pain of CCS with the hope that the infrastructure bill smooths things out or grants supercharger access to CCS vehicles.

Their safety record and ratings are actually one of the industry’s best. If you consider a car, please do your own research on this - check out actual ratings agencies reports, not news sites.

Regarding Musk - this is a weird argument. Are you endorsing oil industry then, if you are buying gas car? Or China if you are buying Polestar/Volvo ev? etc.

Re: Electrify America “fries” EVs at charging stations

#36

Post by macinjosh »

One often over looked aspect of EVs are their relative fragility compared to a ICE vehicle. I see it as an analog/digital divide. You can get an ICE to temporarily run with all sorts of deficits, incorrect inputs, or hacks. It will still kinda work. EVs are way more digital. If one thing in the chain breaks the bit flips to false and you're done until the tow truck comes and an expert with special, secret knowledge and tools can disassemble it and flip the bit back to true so to speak.

Re: Electrify America “fries” EVs at charging stations

#37

Post by aaomidi »

drewg123 wrote: post #27
cptcobalt wrote: post #21

Electrify America is getting far too much money and is using it to effectively anti-sell EVs with their janky, broken, and insecure infrastructure. Their funding comes from government subsidies and traditional automakers making reparations for emissions scandals (Volkswagen, $2B). This network is basically being built out of malicious compliance, without reasonable desires to make it good and reliable... My mind will…

What government subsidies is EA getting? I thought their funding was initially from VW, as reparations for the VW emissions scandal..?

Local

Re: Electrify America “fries” EVs at charging stations

#38

Post by jeffbee »

foxyv wrote: post #2

Looking forward to a teardown of an EA charger by someone familiar with power circuits. I wonder if they are shorting primary to secondary and getting 2400V AC straight into their car battery... Probably welding the plug to the car too.

The charging stations near me are built with the AC-DC converters in one set of cabinets and the dispensers in separate cabinets. The dispensers don't seem to have any AC power available to fault into the car.

Re: Electrify America “fries” EVs at charging stations

#39

Post by Kirby64 »

cptcobalt wrote: post #21

Electrify America is getting far too much money and is using it to effectively anti-sell EVs with their janky, broken, and insecure infrastructure. Their funding comes from government subsidies and traditional automakers making reparations for emissions scandals (Volkswagen, $2B). This network is basically being built out of malicious compliance, without reasonable desires to make it good and reliable... My mind will…

Really seems like perverse incentives to me... EA was created due to the VW scandal, and they were forced to spend this money this way.

Except, VW's bread and butter is still gas cars. They're not incentivized to herald EVs at all; if anything, they'd prefer it to go as slowly as possible so they can continue to make money off their gas fleet.

Re: Electrify America “fries” EVs at charging stations

#40

Post by yardie »

jhoechtl wrote: post #23

What is the price per kW at an EV charging station compared to what you pay for power at home? How are home owners subsidizing the EV network?

EA is .40/kw or $.31/kw + $4/mo membership.

Our electrical utility in the south is $.13-.17/kw

So to fill a Tesla battery from near empty to full ~80kwH is around $25.

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