8 ms·

Almost 1/3 of San Francisco charging stations are broken

41 points by seibelj 4y ago

jbigelow76 4y ago
Great, EV charging stations are the new McDonald's ice cream machine* * https://www.npr.org/2022/01/11/1072164745/why-are-mcdonalds-ice-cream-machines-always-broken https://www.npr.org/2022/01/11/1072164745/why-are-mcdonalds-...
- Simon_O_Rourke 4y ago
  With the exception that McDonald's ice cream machines are not generally subject to the random depredations of moron drivers, anti-social types, weather and general malaise.
  - maweki 4y ago
    > anti-social types and general malaise In Germany we had cases of either anti-tesla-ism, anti-environmentalism, anti-muslimism, or satire, or possibly all of it at once, were people were disabling chargers by putting ground pork into the charging ports.
    - barbazoo 4y ago
      Add some onion and you got a mettbrötchen
    - rightbyte 4y ago
      For real? Is like one guy doing it or a movement?
      - maweki 4y ago
        It's difficult to get a good number on the events. The thing is, ground meat in Germany is called "hack". So on another level (that's why it could very well be satire), the charging stations have been "hacked". Google does not distuingish between both kinds. But vandalism in general is a big problem.
    - necovek 4y ago
      At least they are using electricity over gas to cook their food!
  - throwaway742 4y ago
    I mean I worked in fast food when I was younger and knowing myself and my coworkers at the time surely it is subject to at least some of those things.
SethTro 4y ago
Title is a bit sensational: Should really be "1/4 of SF charging stations are broke". They rounded 22.7% up to 33.3% bypassing the more logical/sensibleness 25%
- phinnaeus 4y ago
  I find your comment a bit sensational. They included 4.9% of chargers having short cables and therefore rounded 27.6% up to 33%. Though I agree that they should not use the term "dud" to refer to chargers that are technically working but non-functional due to a design flaw (cable length). Though of course even 27.6 should round to 25% before it rounds to 33%...
  - Heston 4y ago
    I find your comment a bit sensational. You both arrived at the same percentage.
    - the_gipsy 4y ago
      I find your comment a bit sensational. They both parted from different percentages.
  - Johnny555 4y ago
    I'd like more details on those "too short" cables, like did they try backing in (or pulling head in if they backed in the first time)? I've run into a few stations with short cables, but none that couldn't reach the charge port if I parked in the other direction.
bfung 4y ago
“They tested the functionality of 657 charging connectors at all 181 public charging stations in the Bay area, Tesla chargers excluded.” Tesla chargers excluded. I didn’t look up the numbers, but gonna guess most EVs gonna be Tesla. That charge at Tesla chargers.
- dymk 4y ago
  They won't be, soon, as Tesla gets lapped by every other big car manuf ramping up production. Tesla chargers also aren't (yet) compatible with non-Teslas. They've said they'll be adopting the standard charger in the coming years, but haven't started yet.
  - bfung 4y ago
    For the record, I didn’t downvote you, and whomever did should at least say something, as the comments aren’t unreasonable. Debatable, yes, but not unreasonable. Anyways, the study omits Tesla chargers which has far more usage than non-Tesla chargers, I’ll go out on a limb to claim, as I’ve seen packed stations every other day, while driving past it in my own Tesla :p
    - lokedhs 4y ago
      I'd expect most people to install a charger at home so you can charge overnight. Is this not done much in the US?
      - snickerbockers 4y ago
        This is about the bay area specifically, where it's nigh-impossible to own a home if you weren't born into the landed gentry.
        lokedhs 4y ago
        If you're staying in an apartment, is it possible to install a charger in your car park?
clouddrover 4y ago
> Only EVs with CCS charge inlets were used. The vehicles used for testing were the Chevy Bolt, Kia Niro, Hyundai Kona, Ford Mustang Mach E, and Porsche Taycan. It would be good to see a breakdown of which EVs had which problems. They say that all of the "cable too short" problems were with Chevy Bolts only, but it also sounds like they didn't make every EV visit every station. Maybe most EVs would have the same issue at those stations, maybe not. The Chevy Bolt is also known to have problems with initiating charging sessions. So if most of the charge initiation failures were with Bolts then that may be more of a problem with the car than the station. This YouTuber tests and reviews a lot of charging sites with his Chevy Bolt. In this recent station test video he talks about some of the Chevy Bolt specific issues: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fgeh3CozLFo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fgeh3CozLFo
Proven 4y ago
more_corn 4y ago
Most of San Francisco is broken.

41 points by seibelj 4y ago

Great, EV charging stations are the new McDonald's ice cream machine* * https://www.npr.org/2022/01/11/1072164745/why-are-mcdonalds-ice-cream-machines-always-broken https://www.npr.org/2022/01/11/1072164745/why-are-mcdonalds-...

Simon_O_Rourke 4y ago
With the exception that McDonald's ice cream machines are not generally subject to the random depredations of moron drivers, anti-social types, weather and general malaise.
- maweki 4y ago
  > anti-social types and general malaise In Germany we had cases of either anti-tesla-ism, anti-environmentalism, anti-muslimism, or satire, or possibly all of it at once, were people were disabling chargers by putting ground pork into the charging ports.
  - barbazoo 4y ago
    Add some onion and you got a mettbrötchen
  - rightbyte 4y ago
    For real? Is like one guy doing it or a movement?
    - maweki 4y ago
      It's difficult to get a good number on the events. The thing is, ground meat in Germany is called "hack". So on another level (that's why it could very well be satire), the charging stations have been "hacked". Google does not distuingish between both kinds. But vandalism in general is a big problem.
  - necovek 4y ago
    At least they are using electricity over gas to cook their food!
- throwaway742 4y ago
  I mean I worked in fast food when I was younger and knowing myself and my coworkers at the time surely it is subject to at least some of those things.

SethTro 4y ago

Title is a bit sensational: Should really be "1/4 of SF charging stations are broke". They rounded 22.7% up to 33.3% bypassing the more logical/sensibleness 25%

phinnaeus 4y ago
I find your comment a bit sensational. They included 4.9% of chargers having short cables and therefore rounded 27.6% up to 33%. Though I agree that they should not use the term "dud" to refer to chargers that are technically working but non-functional due to a design flaw (cable length). Though of course even 27.6 should round to 25% before it rounds to 33%...
- Heston 4y ago
  I find your comment a bit sensational. You both arrived at the same percentage.
  - the_gipsy 4y ago
    I find your comment a bit sensational. They both parted from different percentages.
- Johnny555 4y ago
  I'd like more details on those "too short" cables, like did they try backing in (or pulling head in if they backed in the first time)? I've run into a few stations with short cables, but none that couldn't reach the charge port if I parked in the other direction.

bfung 4y ago

“They tested the functionality of 657 charging connectors at all 181 public charging stations in the Bay area, Tesla chargers excluded.” Tesla chargers excluded. I didn’t look up the numbers, but gonna guess most EVs gonna be Tesla. That charge at Tesla chargers.

dymk 4y ago
They won't be, soon, as Tesla gets lapped by every other big car manuf ramping up production. Tesla chargers also aren't (yet) compatible with non-Teslas. They've said they'll be adopting the standard charger in the coming years, but haven't started yet.
- bfung 4y ago
  For the record, I didn’t downvote you, and whomever did should at least say something, as the comments aren’t unreasonable. Debatable, yes, but not unreasonable. Anyways, the study omits Tesla chargers which has far more usage than non-Tesla chargers, I’ll go out on a limb to claim, as I’ve seen packed stations every other day, while driving past it in my own Tesla :p
  - lokedhs 4y ago
    I'd expect most people to install a charger at home so you can charge overnight. Is this not done much in the US?
    - snickerbockers 4y ago
      This is about the bay area specifically, where it's nigh-impossible to own a home if you weren't born into the landed gentry.
      - lokedhs 4y ago
        If you're staying in an apartment, is it possible to install a charger in your car park?

clouddrover 4y ago

> Only EVs with CCS charge inlets were used. The vehicles used for testing were the Chevy Bolt, Kia Niro, Hyundai Kona, Ford Mustang Mach E, and Porsche Taycan. It would be good to see a breakdown of which EVs had which problems. They say that all of the "cable too short" problems were with Chevy Bolts only, but it also sounds like they didn't make every EV visit every station. Maybe most EVs would have the same issue at those stations, maybe not. The Chevy Bolt is also known to have problems with initiating charging sessions. So if most of the charge initiation failures were with Bolts then that may be more of a problem with the car than the station. This YouTuber tests and reviews a lot of charging sites with his Chevy Bolt. In this recent station test video he talks about some of the Chevy Bolt specific issues: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fgeh3CozLFo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fgeh3CozLFo

Proven 4y ago

more_corn 4y ago

Most of San Francisco is broken.