Wow, the future of EVs charging hell across US (vehicles, plugs, best)

[vision33r]

https://www.reddit.com/r/teslamotors..._supercharger/

I know this is one Supercharging station that has issue but it is the perfect example what I've said in the past that we don't have enough charging infrastructure to support the amount of EVs that will be on the roads across the country. Maybe they need to implement some type of time limit to under 15mins just to get people on the roads instead of sitting there waiting...

[robr2]

There was an earlier thread on this. IIRC, it was Thanksgiving weekend outside of a tourist site with another major highway shut down due to weather. It was an anomaly.

[OyCrumbler]

It supposedly costs a few hundreds of thousands for Tesla to make a supercharger station. They can up their deployment substantially. A few v3 stations and the conversion of that one to v3 would make a world of difference. However, their v3 timeline was pushed back and they didn’t come up with a strategy for peak holiday travel in areas with a lot of Teslas (California) in the case that v3 wasn’t ready for mass deployment in time (which it wasn’t). The question is if Tesla will quickly learn from that mistake since it’s not average usage that gets people pissed, but peak usage.

That station is on a highly trafficked route, but has an older version of the supercharger where a pair of chargers split the maximum 150kW rate. Which means that the more people using the stalls, the slower the charging happens and the more it gets backed up. A v3 there probably would have solved the issue since a v3 stall nearly halves the time for when you have a dedicated older stall at 150kW, but cuts time down to less than a third when at a shared stall. However, closing down that station to revamp it is a no go since it's highly trafficked without first having more close by alternative locations. Hopefully the Cambria location to be opened up somewhat nearby and soon is a v3 250kW dedicated charger (it'd be nonsensical if it isn't unless there are other stations nearby in planning that aren't listed).

On the other hand, in just the month of December within California there was:

- one v3 supercharger in Anaheim that opened
- one v3 supercharger in Williams that opened

- one v3 supercharger in Stockton now listed as under construction

- one supercharger version unknown granted a permit in Woodland
- one supercharger version unknown granted a permit in Santa Barbara

- one urban supercharger (just 72kW, but in the parking lot of a large shopping complex where you might spend an hour) under construction in Buena Park

If, and that's a big if, they can keep up and slightly increase this rate for California while also renovating older superchargers to v3, then Tesla will likely be okay unless 2020 sales are extremely high.

[eaton53]

This would be a non-issue for me because I'd never charge outside the home.

[OyCrumbler]

Originally Posted by eaton53

This would be a non-issue for me because I'd never charge outside the home.

Right, which is also why there's the argument that there doesn't need to be nearly the same number of fast chargers to support the same EV fleet size as gas stations to support the current ICE fleet size. Most people would likely be charging at home with some charging at work and then some charging at slower rates at various places like at a shopping center, hotel lot or some such.

Also, if California wasn't so screwy with its high-speed rail and that eventually works out (maybe...), then take the train, bub.

[eaton53]

Originally Posted by OyCrumbler

Right, which is also why there's the argument that there doesn't need to be nearly the same number of fast chargers to support the same EV fleet size as gas stations to support the current ICE fleet size.

The home I expect to be living in by that time has a 3-car garage and a whole house generator.

Being able to always charge cars is a side benefit.
Keeping the lights on, furnace/A/C going, food cold and the sump pump running is #1a, b, c & d.

The power here is nuclear, but I don't really care as long as I get it. How it is generated is another non-issue.

[sanspeur]

Seems to be quite a few charging stations...Check this map.

https://www.plugshare.com/

[sanspeur]

Not sure it the charging infrastructure can keep up...Volkswagen now says it will turn out one million battery-only cars by the end of 2023 instead of end 2025, and would reach 1.5 million by the end of 2025.

[OutdoorLover]

Yes, it's an important and often-overlooked point that for routine daily driving needs, charging can be done at home, overnight by owners - without using commercial charging stations, and for considerably less money than filling a gas tank. ICE vehicles don't have a home refueling option.

There are certainly still use cases for using commercial charging stations though, and the time required for a charge - on the order of an hour even for the speedier ones, provides far lower throughput than the old standby - the gasoline filling station. While there's been a LOT of improvement over the situation just 10 years ago in the number of commercial charging stations and the speed of the best ones... we can still use some further doublings of charging speeds and greater propagation of fast charging technology.

The vast majority of early adopters seem to be enthusiasts and don't seem to be bothered by any inconvenience currently. Your casual motorists though, will expect more from the system.

[southernnaturelover]

Originally Posted by sanspeur

Not sure it the charging infrastructure can keep up...Volkswagen now says it will turn out one million battery-only cars by the end of 2023 instead of end 2025, and would reach 1.5 million by the end of 2025.

And those 2023 models may sit on dealer lots until 2025 (or longer) if nobody buys them. VW better be careful.