[Theophilus]

This is a timely article for this discussion.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/media/ti...ot-problem-evs

[RichardInCA]

Originally Posted by Theophilus

This is a timely article for this discussion.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/media/ti...ot-problem-evs

I think/hope that BMW is actually better placed to deal with the user issues than Tesla, but the charging infrastructure needs to improve. I have home and office charging and the Bay Area has one of the highest densities of EV ownership of the country, so the charging network is likely very different for me than many others.

[Scrapula]

I also live in a large EV adoption area. I’m north of Seattle. I can get to Vancouver, BC on a single charge. There are lots of chargers there. I can go south to Portland, Oregon and there are chargers. East over the Cascade mountain range and there are chargers on the other side. I can ferry to the Olympic peninsula. Several chargers in Port Angeles. I can almost get to Idaho on a single charge, but there are chargers in Spokane about 220 miles away. A nice group of EA chargers were just added off I-80 in Wyoming. It’s definitely getting better and within 5 years, it will be a non-issue.

[SteVTEC]

Sorry to hear this, but not surprising. I looked up non-Tesla public chargers in my area in the DC suburbs, and most have terrible reviews also with numerous reports of chargers broken or not working. One is even slated to be removed as it's literally never worked at all, yet is still listed as an available charger. Too much long-distance driving for us including semi-routine 200 mile round trips, so will be sticking with ICE for the foreseeable future.

[Windshieldfarmer]

OP experienced this in an area with widespread EV adoption and more charger options than elsewhere in the country. Like many here I have found DC chargers are often located inconvenient to my route, don’t work, are frequently congested, and more expensive than gasoline equivalent. It doesn’t take too many bad charging/traveling experiences to give people pause about EV ownership. Early EV adopters were tolerant of these situations, mainstream owners are not. I suspect slowing EV adoption rates relate to this situation. Real world range increases (in adverse conditions) would be helpful. Just last week I was returning from a trip to Oklahoma when a very strong cold front passed and changed the wind direction, forcing me to drive into a 40 mph head wind which reduced my expected range, requiring a stop. Fortunately the one DC station that was along my route, an EA station, was open and operational. At this point the best use case for EVs are suburban commuters with home chargers who seldom road trip.

[RichardInCA]

Originally Posted by Windshieldfarmer

OP experienced this in an area with widespread EV adoption and more charger options than elsewhere in the country. Like many here I have found DC chargers are often located inconvenient to my route, don’t work, are frequently congested, and more expensive than gasoline equivalent. It doesn’t take too many bad charging/traveling experiences to give people pause about EV ownership. Early EV adopters were tolerant of these situations, mainstream owners are not. I suspect slowing EV adoption rates relate to this situation. Real world range increases (in adverse conditions) would be helpful. Just last week I was returning from a trip to Oklahoma when a very strong cold front passed and changed the wind direction, forcing me to drive into a 40 mph head wind which reduced my expected range, requiring a stop. Fortunately the one DC station that was along my route, an EA station, was open and operational. At this point the best use case for EVs are suburban commuters with home chargers who seldom road trip.

I think this is a good analysis. I really love my i5, but the range is not huge; it’s something that doesn’t impact my use of the car in any way, but I look forward to range not being a discussion as new tech rolls out. Bigger batteries is not the answer, as the weight of the current and likely next gen tech is already making these cars much heavier than their outward dimensions would suggest. I don’t hear a lot about motor efficiency, probably because they’re already pretty darn efficient, and expect we’ll need to see aero designs really shave off drag and improve miles/kWh. Lucid is doing something right here.

[Windshieldfarmer]

Originally Posted by RichardInCA

I think this is a good analysis. I really love my i5, but the range is not huge; it’s something that doesn’t impact my use of the car in any way, but I look forward to range not being a discussion as new tech rolls out. Bigger batteries is not the answer, as the weight of the current and likely next gen tech is already making these cars much heavier than their outward dimensions would suggest. I don’t hear a lot about motor efficiency, probably because they’re already pretty darn efficient, and expect we’ll need to see aero designs really shave off drag and improve miles/kWh. Lucid is doing something right here.

I agree…bigger and heavier batteries would have diminishing returns. A significant reduction in battery weight could provide a huge benefit without adding capacity while solid state technology could increase charging speed while reducing cold temperature impacts. I am also optimistic that at some point capacitive charging might make it possible to reduce charging stops to a few minutes. Interestingly, range is already mostly pretty good…in ideal situations. But if there is high speeds, wind, rain, cold, or excessive heat, range becomes hugely problematic.

[Scrapula]

I bought my car because it is only used for commuting and local errands. Our Lightning is the trip vehicle. It has better range and Tesla access as well. I live in the Cascade mountain foothills and can cross the mountains and be at a charger on the other side in 76 miles. If I lived in the central US, it would be another story. My guess is another 3 years or so before it is feasible.

[QandnotU]

The Electrify America infrastructure in California is broken. There's not nearly enough chargers for the amount of EVs on the road, and the app doesn't accurately report when chargers are down. Not only is there a shortage of EV chargers, you can always count on 20% of them being out of order when arriving to a charging destination.

Problem highlight: I'm really close to (6) 350 kW chargers and it's open 24 hours, but you'd be lucky to find one open at 2 in the morning.