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Please say more about the "charging options for non-Tesla EVs suck." Is that all about superchargers or is there more to it?

Closi 5y ago
I don’t have an electric car but my parents have an electric non-Tesla one, and say that firstly you have to sign up to accounts with loads of different companies just to use them, and then secondly it’s really common to arrive at one and it just doesn’t work or there is only a few and charge points which are full. Teslas currently have the advantage of the extra supercharge network, although in the Uk that is being opened to other electric cars which will level the playing field.
ericmay 5y ago
If you have a non-Tesla EV you’re really reliant on finding some wall to plug in to. If you are just driving around town, cool you’re good to go and you just go home. If you’re taking a trip for a few hours then you need to charge and that’s where you run into trouble. With Tesla there’s all the Superchargers so that few hour trip is fine with a quick 20 minute charge. For other EVs it’s a few hours at best. This will be a solved problem in the future though. Just growing pains.
- cromka 5y ago
  > For other EVs it’s a few hours at best. Absolutely not true. This is one of those things Tesla diehards keep repeating as if it was 2015 still. You have commercial super-chargers widely available already that can charge a car 80% in 20 minutes: https://youtu.be/ZgeZikh88Wc?t=776 https://youtu.be/ZgeZikh88Wc?t=776
  - ericmay 5y ago
    I’ll check that out but as an EV owner over the course of a few years even the Supercharger network isn’t widespread enough. So I’m not ready to buy that there is an alternative that’s as good as that network already. This looks more like the “see you can drive from LA to NYC” road-trip stuff from the early Tesla days. Things will expand for sure and I’m happy about it, but this looks like marketing to me. You own and drive an EV I take it? What’s your experience been like?
  - drewg123 5y ago
    From that video, I assume you're in the UK. In the USA, it is still 2015 basically. Everything I've seen on charging non-Tesla EVs in the USA makes it seem like its a total dumpster fire. One of the YT's I watch has experiences like this all the time: https://youtu.be/jGjUQuXozYc?t=862 https://youtu.be/jGjUQuXozYc?t=862
  - SyzygistSix 5y ago
    These folks had issues charging their Porsche Taycan on their road trip in 2021. Also it looks like charging on a road trip looks like a Tour de Walmart for the most part. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTieOdnDhX8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTieOdnDhX8
    - ericmay 5y ago
      No worse than the Tour de Meijer I've been on with the Supercharging network lol. At least Meijer has a small bourbon selection so I can try and find a bottle of Buffalo Trace from time to time.
drewg123 5y ago
My impression, from watching many videos similar to this: https://youtu.be/jGjUQuXozYc https://youtu.be/jGjUQuXozYc, is that fast charging in the USA is incredibly flaky for non-Tesla vehicles. Chargers don't work at all, chargers don't accept payment, chargers don't handshake with cars, chargers complain of faults and don't finish charging the car, chargers don't deliver advertised charging power/speed. I've done about 20k miles in road trips in my Tesla, and I think I've plugged in to 1 charger that didn't work at all. I've suffered degraded speed at other chargers, primarily due to them being older chargers that share capacity between 2 chargers (so my speed was halved when somebody else plugged in to the mated charger). The worst problem I've had with Tesla chargers is the locations. Sometimes finding them is hard (the one near Dulles in Reston took me forever to find for example), sometimes getting to them is hard (chargers in malls are a nightmare around the holidays).
thebiss 5y ago
Here's an example of my crappy charging experience. I live in a large town, population about 60K, and the ChargePoint app shows these options near me right now. This includes ALL charging networks, but only J1772 plugs that fit my car: 16 "public" ports are in the area: - 4 are actually inside an apartment complex - 2 are at Whole Foods, but I know 1 has been broken for years. - 2 are BEHIND car dealerships. That's not really public. - 3 are at someone's house? - 2 are at the gym, but 1 has been broken for years. - 2 are at a high school. I don't spend time there. - 1 is at the library, and it's always occupied or broken. If I expand the search to other places I shop: - 2 ports are at the mall, but 1 of them is broken, and because they're close to the entrance, they're often ICEd. Thankfully, I drive a PHEV so I can charge at home overnight, and burn gas for long distances. To date, 75% of this car's miles were electric.

Closi 5y ago

I don’t have an electric car but my parents have an electric non-Tesla one, and say that firstly you have to sign up to accounts with loads of different companies just to use them, and then secondly it’s really common to arrive at one and it just doesn’t work or there is only a few and charge points which are full. Teslas currently have the advantage of the extra supercharge network, although in the Uk that is being opened to other electric cars which will level the playing field.

ericmay 5y ago

If you have a non-Tesla EV you’re really reliant on finding some wall to plug in to. If you are just driving around town, cool you’re good to go and you just go home. If you’re taking a trip for a few hours then you need to charge and that’s where you run into trouble. With Tesla there’s all the Superchargers so that few hour trip is fine with a quick 20 minute charge. For other EVs it’s a few hours at best. This will be a solved problem in the future though. Just growing pains.

cromka 5y ago
> For other EVs it’s a few hours at best. Absolutely not true. This is one of those things Tesla diehards keep repeating as if it was 2015 still. You have commercial super-chargers widely available already that can charge a car 80% in 20 minutes: https://youtu.be/ZgeZikh88Wc?t=776 https://youtu.be/ZgeZikh88Wc?t=776
- ericmay 5y ago
  I’ll check that out but as an EV owner over the course of a few years even the Supercharger network isn’t widespread enough. So I’m not ready to buy that there is an alternative that’s as good as that network already. This looks more like the “see you can drive from LA to NYC” road-trip stuff from the early Tesla days. Things will expand for sure and I’m happy about it, but this looks like marketing to me. You own and drive an EV I take it? What’s your experience been like?
- drewg123 5y ago
  From that video, I assume you're in the UK. In the USA, it is still 2015 basically. Everything I've seen on charging non-Tesla EVs in the USA makes it seem like its a total dumpster fire. One of the YT's I watch has experiences like this all the time: https://youtu.be/jGjUQuXozYc?t=862 https://youtu.be/jGjUQuXozYc?t=862
- SyzygistSix 5y ago
  These folks had issues charging their Porsche Taycan on their road trip in 2021. Also it looks like charging on a road trip looks like a Tour de Walmart for the most part. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTieOdnDhX8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTieOdnDhX8
  - ericmay 5y ago
    No worse than the Tour de Meijer I've been on with the Supercharging network lol. At least Meijer has a small bourbon selection so I can try and find a bottle of Buffalo Trace from time to time.

drewg123 5y ago

My impression, from watching many videos similar to this: https://youtu.be/jGjUQuXozYc https://youtu.be/jGjUQuXozYc, is that fast charging in the USA is incredibly flaky for non-Tesla vehicles. Chargers don't work at all, chargers don't accept payment, chargers don't handshake with cars, chargers complain of faults and don't finish charging the car, chargers don't deliver advertised charging power/speed. I've done about 20k miles in road trips in my Tesla, and I think I've plugged in to 1 charger that didn't work at all. I've suffered degraded speed at other chargers, primarily due to them being older chargers that share capacity between 2 chargers (so my speed was halved when somebody else plugged in to the mated charger). The worst problem I've had with Tesla chargers is the locations. Sometimes finding them is hard (the one near Dulles in Reston took me forever to find for example), sometimes getting to them is hard (chargers in malls are a nightmare around the holidays).

thebiss 5y ago

Here's an example of my crappy charging experience. I live in a large town, population about 60K, and the ChargePoint app shows these options near me right now. This includes ALL charging networks, but only J1772 plugs that fit my car: 16 "public" ports are in the area: - 4 are actually inside an apartment complex - 2 are at Whole Foods, but I know 1 has been broken for years. - 2 are BEHIND car dealerships. That's not really public. - 3 are at someone's house? - 2 are at the gym, but 1 has been broken for years. - 2 are at a high school. I don't spend time there. - 1 is at the library, and it's always occupied or broken. If I expand the search to other places I shop: - 2 ports are at the mall, but 1 of them is broken, and because they're close to the entrance, they're often ICEd. Thankfully, I drive a PHEV so I can charge at home overnight, and burn gas for long distances. To date, 75% of this car's miles were electric.