3 ms·

For example, on an 85mi drive I frequently take, for a wide definition of "on the way", inclusive of 5-10mi detours off highway, there are: Total 25 CCS stalls

For example, on an 85mi drive I frequently take, for a wide definition of "on the way", inclusive of 5-10mi detours off highway, there are: Total 25 CCS stalls with 120kW+ charging vs 118 Tesla stalls on the same route From experience I also know the Tesla stalls will be 99.9% up whereas the CCS ones will be 75-90% on any given date. "25 stalls in 85mi" might to a non-EV owner sound like fine, quite a lot, but think about that as like.. only having 3 gas stations within a 2 hour drive, in the most congested, population dense area of the US. Not great.

vel0city 4y ago
I do agree CCS networks need to work on uptime, even 90% availability per stall is unacceptable to me. However, there's probably more than 4x the number of Teslas versus CCS cars on the road today in the US. What's the ratio of Tesla cars/Tesla stalls vs CCS cars/CCS stalls on that route currently? If there's 118 Tesla stalls that are constantly in use versus 25 which are rarely used, which is going to be easier to find a place to charge right away? So counting the stalls seems to be a bit of a misnomer to me at this point. Maybe if CCS cars was a similar number on the roads, but in the end as a CCS user I care more about there being more locations and uptime than having more stalls that sit empty all the time.
- steveBK123 4y ago
  I have a CCS car, and I love it, but this is despite the charging network not because of it. The ratio of cars:chargers is probably pretty good, or maybe even better for CCS, in a perverse way because Tesla has such a sales lead. Unfortunately CCS networks in the Northeast tend to install themselves well off the highway in back corners of giant shopping center or mall parking lots. Route I used to take on my Tesla without leaving the highway, or only needing to leave the highway for 1 mile, instead require large detours for CCS. NJTP for example has been a mess for CCS by compare, though it should be better, eventually, with the EvGo partnership. I95/Rt15 through CT is similarly very bad.
  - vel0city 4y ago
    I agree location choices could be better. I'm happy that my state's plans for charging infrastructure grants really push new charging developments immediately at the highway exits and other good locations. It will be nice to see that happen, as often times on road trips it did take me driving an extra mile or two into the town to the Walmart or other shopping center to plug in instead of being right on my planned route. In the end though I do expect for CCS to just become pretty ubiquitous. You won't need many big 10+ stall stations, because there will be so many smaller 2-4 stall stations all over the place.There aren't yet the customers to support that amount of infrastructure today though, but as more EVs come to market and Teslas at least having CCS adapters it'll become more of a thing.

vel0city 4y ago

I do agree CCS networks need to work on uptime, even 90% availability per stall is unacceptable to me. However, there's probably more than 4x the number of Teslas versus CCS cars on the road today in the US. What's the ratio of Tesla cars/Tesla stalls vs CCS cars/CCS stalls on that route currently? If there's 118 Tesla stalls that are constantly in use versus 25 which are rarely used, which is going to be easier to find a place to charge right away? So counting the stalls seems to be a bit of a misnomer to me at this point. Maybe if CCS cars was a similar number on the roads, but in the end as a CCS user I care more about there being more locations and uptime than having more stalls that sit empty all the time.

steveBK123 4y ago
I have a CCS car, and I love it, but this is despite the charging network not because of it. The ratio of cars:chargers is probably pretty good, or maybe even better for CCS, in a perverse way because Tesla has such a sales lead. Unfortunately CCS networks in the Northeast tend to install themselves well off the highway in back corners of giant shopping center or mall parking lots. Route I used to take on my Tesla without leaving the highway, or only needing to leave the highway for 1 mile, instead require large detours for CCS. NJTP for example has been a mess for CCS by compare, though it should be better, eventually, with the EvGo partnership. I95/Rt15 through CT is similarly very bad.
- vel0city 4y ago
  I agree location choices could be better. I'm happy that my state's plans for charging infrastructure grants really push new charging developments immediately at the highway exits and other good locations. It will be nice to see that happen, as often times on road trips it did take me driving an extra mile or two into the town to the Walmart or other shopping center to plug in instead of being right on my planned route. In the end though I do expect for CCS to just become pretty ubiquitous. You won't need many big 10+ stall stations, because there will be so many smaller 2-4 stall stations all over the place.There aren't yet the customers to support that amount of infrastructure today though, but as more EVs come to market and Teslas at least having CCS adapters it'll become more of a thing.