Let’s All Try Not to Be ‘That Guy.’

[Grease Lightning]

A better strategy would be to charge to 80% and then find a L2 charger to complete your charge at.

The problem with an arbitrary number is each car has a different rate of delivery. Rather than a percentage of SOC, it would be better to cut it off based on kW being requested . maybe on a 150 or less charger it is 20 kW and on a 350 maybe it is 40-50 kW.

Then have a small bank of L2 48 amp EVSE available for those that need to top off.

That approach could still allow the original compliance cars to hit a higher state of charge since they need the range in a trip, and allows the other cars to rip through quick.

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[FloridaMan655321]

I refuse to give the fake news my clicks, but from reading through the discussions here I think I understand. Ideally there will be many many many chargers in parking lots in the future.

 

[invertedspear]

The problem with an arbitrary number is each car has a different rate of delivery. Rather than a percentage of SOC, it would be better to cut it off based on kW being requested . maybe on a 150 or less charger it is 20 kW and on a 350 maybe it is 40-50 kW.

80% really isn't arbitrary though is it? Don't most EVs reduce charge speed at 80% or is that just F150Ls? Either way, everyone is slow as the battery tops up, so if the goal is to deliver as much energy as quickly as possible, the SOC is the only number that makes sense to go off of. If a Leaf with 75% SOC comes in for their 20 kWhs it's still could to be there for hours.

 

[Grease Lightning]

If a Leaf with 75% SOC comes in for their 20 kWhs it's still could to be there for hours.

Not sure your math is mathing

60 kW battery at 75% = 15 kW remaining charge but charge curve to 20kW is 92% so actually only would be 10.2 kW

10/20= 30 minutes. But their charge curve to 90 % is over 25 kW……

Oh and they are removing CHAdeMO from a lot of sites so even less will be at the station near you.

 

[InTheCloud]

The problem with an arbitrary number is each car has a different rate of delivery. Rather than a percentage of SOC, it would be better to cut it off based on kW being requested . maybe on a 150 or less charger it is 20 kW and on a 350 maybe it is 40-50 kW.

I'd be happy with two things:
1. EA (and every DCFC) provide the rates as advertised. Put a big f'n banner like we do for gas prices, to show station wait times like you do at the butcher, and show the average charge rate. Let them all know their 150kW charger is really outputting 66 kW.

2. Automakers advertise range at 80%, not 100%. They already line up the max range value with the fastest 0-60 mph number, even though those are two separate builds. From now on, as long as charging to 80% is going to be an issue, that is what they need to advertise. Similar to "20mpg city, 30 mpg hwy", give us "200 miles range level 3, 260 miles range level 2"

 

[RickKeen]

Make the limit based on time, not % of charge. Say 40 minutes.

The right solution for those who need more than that is to stop and go to the end of the line again. If nobody is waiting then have at it.

Also, the app should have a way to assign people spots in a queue so that people there is not an awkward jockeying and trying to figure out who is waiting to charge.

 

[Ventorum94]

This article is stupid, and emboldens folks to attack those of us who have a legitimate need to charge to a higher percentage. To wit, if you are an EA subscriber leaving L.A., and traveling I5, you are putting a lot of trust in the EA service in Bakersfield being operational; if not, you are going over 100 miles at 70+ mph to get to the next EA charger. Similar issues exist between Paso Robles Monterey Bay, should Soledad be out of order. And That's when range anxiety starts to set in.

EA is deflecting the blame for their slow rollout and poor uptime performance.

Honestly on the next long trek, I'd rather wait the 45 minutes to get from 80% to 100%, rather than "charger hop" and to have to wait in line for 45 minutes to 1.5 hours to even get on a charger at the next stop.

It doesn’t work, to “charger hop,” if you have to wait in line at the next hop.

 

[marc_hanna]

The problem is simply not enough charging stations. If you consider how many gas pumps there are in terms of a ratio of pumps to ICEs, and sometimes you have to wait in line for them, then there needs to be closer ratio of plugs to EVs to achieve a comparable level of service or convenience (also the convenience will never be as good, but will be offset by home chargers). In Nova Scotia we have over a million people, no idea how many EVs, but only 3 plugs in the entire province over 100kW that are open to all EVs (all the Superchargers are v1 and v2). Compare that to our neighbour New Brunswick, whose population is 25% less and they have ~50 plugs over 100kW open to all EVs.

 

[Shawnson]

That's what it used to be like in the early days with Tesla drivers. Everywhere you went, all the charging station were taken up by Teslas, despite them having huge batteries compared to anything else at the time. Also, they never checked in on plug share. I kind of feel like we're getting a little retribution now that Superchargers are open to non-Teslas and they now have to wait for us. Obviously, I get it. There's no reason to blame all current Tesla owners for the bad etiquette of a few owners 10 years ago.

It might be the market difference between us, but in my market, Tesla vehicles seem to be less conscious now that 4 years ago here. Adding in so many new drivers who are not deep into EV culture is my guess.

 

[marc_hanna]

When I was in Calgary a few months ago I saw a lot of Teslas but didn't notice many other EVs. Is that the same in Edmonton? I get the impression in Calgary that people think EVs are going to take their jobs away. They seem to be a difficult sell out there. Not great EV infrastructure, but definitely a lot better than Nova Scotia.

 

[RocketGhost]

I'm really excited about the federal funding to expand EV public charging, and I think they are on the right track with the requirements for station specifications and locations except for one: they only require a minimum of four chargers per station. A couple people taking a long time to charge to 100% (when unnecessary) makes a big difference if there are only four chargers. If there are, say 16, those four people won't make much of a difference in wait times. I think the feds should have required a minimum of 8 chargers per station.

The two things I like about Tesla Superchargers is that they are very reliable and there are so many stalls. I don't feel the need to check availability when I'm on my way there. For EA that's unreliable and only four stalls, I have to check their app every time I'm headed to one.

 

[thunderbayterry]

I know I will.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/04/business/electric-vehicles-ev-charging?cid=ios_app

Thank you for posting this! My wife and I recently drove from Thunder Bay, ON to Minneapolis, MN. We stopped at a OUTLET mall that had some EA chargers, I plugged in, went to shop a bit, but I kept checking my Ford app to monitor my charge level. When I hit 80%, I walked back to my Lightning - and you know what? EVERY charger was now full and there was a car waiting. I unhooked my truck and as I drove away the person waiting walked over and THANKED me for doing that. She told me she is often waiting for a spot - some people just leave their EV's there NOT EVEN CHARGING any more. So I agree with this article. And hey! Why not just be nice?

 

[FirstF150InCasco]

I propose this solution. When a vehicle get's to 80% charge, quadruple the price. Going from 80% to 100% on a shared charger is something I should be willing to pay dearly for.

When I start out on a trip, I charge to 100% (but I'm doing that on my home charger, or the charger at my camp in Maine. (Mainers call their cottages "camps.")) If I need to charge mid-trip, I stop at 80%. But if I'm in the middle of a long trip and I really want to get to 100%, then I should be willing to pay the higher price.

Finally, with the access to Super Chargers my "Charger Anxiety" is gone. When I get to a Super Chager site, it's usually empty. Allowing Ford's to access Super Chargers was a brilliant move by the CEO.

 

[RickKeen]

I propose this solution. When a vehicle get's to 80% charge, quadruple the price. Going from 80% to 100% on a shared charger is something I should be willing to pay dearly for.

When I start out on a trip, I charge to 100% (but I'm doing that on my home charger, or the charger at my camp in Maine. (Mainers call their cottages "camps.")) If I need to charge mid-trip, I stop at 80%. But if I'm in the middle of a long trip and I really want to get to 100%, then I should be willing to pay the higher price.

Finally, with the access to Super Chargers my "Charger Anxiety" is gone. When I get to a Super Chager site, it's usually empty. Allowing Ford's to access Super Chargers was a brilliant move by the CEO.

This would be almost the same as paying by the minute instead of by the kWh.

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