7 ms·

Chevrolet Blazer EV Left Me Stranded in Rural Virginia

30 points by dakna 3y ago

bwanab 3y ago
[flagged]
- thisarticle 3y ago
  Did you even read the article? This has nothing to do with charging infrastructure. The vehicle itself had a fault. He also didn’t buy the vehicle, he was reviewing it.
  - dmsayer 3y ago
    not only that, it had multiple faults in multiple systems one of which was not even related to charging.
    - rnk 3y ago
      The endless series of failures by legacy auto keeps convincing me that they are doomed to lose most of their market share. Because they are incompetent and not trying to build evs with all their might - they don't recognize them as the existential threat they are to ICE manufacturers. First tesla is taking their market share, even tiny new startups like rivian are outselling many major automakers in the us. US EV sales are up 50% plus year over year. Max ICE auto sales were in 2017! No one seems to have noticed where the growth went. 1 million ev sales this year. But the second wave is just starting, which is cheap and quite capable chinese EVs. They are starting to take the growth from Tesla in China, Tesla is having to work hard there. The 1-2 punch of first Tesla and then China will degrade us auto.
      - sterlind 3y ago
        I'm sure GM's lobbyists will keep Chinese EVs out of the US market with steep tariffs. I'm amazed they didn't succeed at locking Toyota out in the '80s.
        FirmwareBurner 3y ago
        >I'm amazed they didn't succeed at locking Toyota out in the '80s. Because Toyota(and every other major car company) built factories in the US to bypass tarrifs?
        rnk 3y ago
        There's a 25% tariff on Chinese Autos right now. The volvo ex30 is actually made in China (Volvo was bought by Geely). But the ex30 is highly reviewed in previews, coming out for $35k after the tarriff in 2wd model. This compact suv apparently has great quickness and is a fine car. It's the harbinger of doom. I'm sure the us will pass more protectionist legislation, in Europe they is at least early talk of blocking Chinese EVs because they can't compete too. Volvo has a plan for a Euro based factory for that reason.
        mensetmanusman 3y ago
        Japan was not a totalitarian threat to human flourishing.
pornel 3y ago
Like nearly all legacy auto makers, they're institutionally incapable of writing decent software.
- joshribakoff 3y ago
  Whats an example of a “non legacy” manufacturer that has perfect software? Im currently in the process of selling my Tesla (“non legacy manufacturer”) back under lemon law because of constant hardware and software issues like windows intermittently refusing to roll up (despite 6+ service center visits), windshield wipers not working, random alerts about “faults” they allegedly can’t locate in their logs, getting alerts on my phone that windows are left open when they’re not, lane departure warnings when the setting is turned off and i am not departing a lane, loud popping noises on speakers followed by infotainment “crashes”, etc.
  - justinsaccount 3y ago
    A lot of that almost sounds like something is shorted in the wiring in the car, and the software doesn't understand that something is physically wrong.
    - TheLoafOfBread 3y ago
      So there is an unexpected input which will cause whole module to crash and reset. That sounds awful lot like a crap software writing. Imagine if you would press too many keys at once on your keyboard causing Windows to BSOD and restart....
      - hulitu 3y ago
        >Imagine if you would press too many keys at once on your keyboard causing Windows to BSOD and restart.... ... or send too many ethernet packets. oh, wait ... /s
      - skinner927 3y ago
        Even the best software can’t counter a hardware fault.
confd 3y ago
This sounds like a rough experience. Tangentially, I’m curious about what the future of cities will look like as EVs become more common and charging infrastructure expands. In what ways will cities change the areas surrounding these charging stations to make the duration of the vehicle’s charge more pleasant?
- hedora 3y ago
  Many charging stations are located inside parks or near nice sit down restaurants. I think this makes long term sense. You mays well enjoy the 30-60 minutes it will take the car to charge.
  - seanmcdirmid 3y ago
    It isn’t really 30-60 minutes though. I’ve never had a charging session go over 20 minutes, which is too long to sit in the car and too short to grab more than something at the convenience store or maybe to go from a fast food restaurant. But I always charge to 80-85%. Maybe an L2 charger at a park or mall is better for a longer term stop, since unlike an L3 charger, it takes an hour or two to make any decent progress.
    - hedora 3y ago
      The trick is to go to 100%. They trickle charge the last bit while you pay your check.
- whycome 3y ago
  Canada just announced that it want no gas cars (hybrid fine i think?) by 2035 with yearly percentage requirements for manufacturers (eg, 40% of vehicles to be EV, etc). That seems like a pretty insane timeline if they're not actually driving the work for the charging infrastructure. There are way too many homes/places that would have to be retrofitted.
  - callalex 3y ago
    I assume you mean no NEW cars in 2035. Meaning used cars will be around for another 20+ years.
amluto 3y ago
I’m still amazed that companies build EVs that will fail in a way that requires service if they don’t like a charger. A friend’s early Audi e-Tron would fail and require extensive service if connected to a J1772 charger that advertised more current capacity than the car could handle. (That is really pathetic BTW. It seemed like the car’s onboard charger would draw excessive current and dry itself if given permission to do so.) Or maybe the Blazer wasn’t breaking so much as charging in a highly degraded mode because it didn’t like the charger’s output?
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- malfist 3y ago
  The crazy thing is current is pulled, not pushed. Give something 1,000 Amps and if it needs only 5mA, it'll only pull 5mA unless something is bad wrong in its power handling
  - rational_indian 3y ago
    Current can be "pushed" if you increase the voltage.
    - malfist 3y ago
      No, it can't. Voltage is pushed, current is not. A device drawing 5v@5mA from a 5v 1000A supply will continue to draw 5mA if you increase the supply to 100V or 100,000A. Or at least it will until it's fried from the extra wattage. 5V@5mA is 0.025W, but at 100V, that same 5mA pull is half a watt. But it's always 5mA
      - rational_indian 3y ago
        I am talking about a passive load (like a resistor). Increasing the voltage will push more current through it.
ZeroGravitas 3y ago
https://www.edmunds.com/car-news/2024-chevy-blazer-ev-long-term-faults.html https://www.edmunds.com/car-news/2024-chevy-blazer-ev-long-t... Edmunds seem to have had a similarly catastrophic time with their long term review purchase.
- rnk 3y ago
  There are multiple reports of similar problems on related vehicles like lyriq, also see reddit for some. There's nothing good there. Behind it there's the mysterious lack of details about underlying anemic ultium production in general.
RalfWausE 3y ago
It has a reason why i drive an old Audi 80 B2 without any software on board...

30 points by dakna 3y ago

bwanab 3y ago

[flagged]

thisarticle 3y ago
Did you even read the article? This has nothing to do with charging infrastructure. The vehicle itself had a fault. He also didn’t buy the vehicle, he was reviewing it.
- dmsayer 3y ago
  not only that, it had multiple faults in multiple systems one of which was not even related to charging.
  - rnk 3y ago
    The endless series of failures by legacy auto keeps convincing me that they are doomed to lose most of their market share. Because they are incompetent and not trying to build evs with all their might - they don't recognize them as the existential threat they are to ICE manufacturers. First tesla is taking their market share, even tiny new startups like rivian are outselling many major automakers in the us. US EV sales are up 50% plus year over year. Max ICE auto sales were in 2017! No one seems to have noticed where the growth went. 1 million ev sales this year. But the second wave is just starting, which is cheap and quite capable chinese EVs. They are starting to take the growth from Tesla in China, Tesla is having to work hard there. The 1-2 punch of first Tesla and then China will degrade us auto.
    - sterlind 3y ago
      I'm sure GM's lobbyists will keep Chinese EVs out of the US market with steep tariffs. I'm amazed they didn't succeed at locking Toyota out in the '80s.
      - FirmwareBurner 3y ago
        >I'm amazed they didn't succeed at locking Toyota out in the '80s. Because Toyota(and every other major car company) built factories in the US to bypass tarrifs?
      - rnk 3y ago
        There's a 25% tariff on Chinese Autos right now. The volvo ex30 is actually made in China (Volvo was bought by Geely). But the ex30 is highly reviewed in previews, coming out for $35k after the tarriff in 2wd model. This compact suv apparently has great quickness and is a fine car. It's the harbinger of doom. I'm sure the us will pass more protectionist legislation, in Europe they is at least early talk of blocking Chinese EVs because they can't compete too. Volvo has a plan for a Euro based factory for that reason.
      - mensetmanusman 3y ago
        Japan was not a totalitarian threat to human flourishing.

pornel 3y ago

Like nearly all legacy auto makers, they're institutionally incapable of writing decent software.

joshribakoff 3y ago
Whats an example of a “non legacy” manufacturer that has perfect software? Im currently in the process of selling my Tesla (“non legacy manufacturer”) back under lemon law because of constant hardware and software issues like windows intermittently refusing to roll up (despite 6+ service center visits), windshield wipers not working, random alerts about “faults” they allegedly can’t locate in their logs, getting alerts on my phone that windows are left open when they’re not, lane departure warnings when the setting is turned off and i am not departing a lane, loud popping noises on speakers followed by infotainment “crashes”, etc.
- justinsaccount 3y ago
  A lot of that almost sounds like something is shorted in the wiring in the car, and the software doesn't understand that something is physically wrong.
  - TheLoafOfBread 3y ago
    So there is an unexpected input which will cause whole module to crash and reset. That sounds awful lot like a crap software writing. Imagine if you would press too many keys at once on your keyboard causing Windows to BSOD and restart....
    - hulitu 3y ago
      >Imagine if you would press too many keys at once on your keyboard causing Windows to BSOD and restart.... ... or send too many ethernet packets. oh, wait ... /s
    - skinner927 3y ago
      Even the best software can’t counter a hardware fault.

confd 3y ago

This sounds like a rough experience. Tangentially, I’m curious about what the future of cities will look like as EVs become more common and charging infrastructure expands. In what ways will cities change the areas surrounding these charging stations to make the duration of the vehicle’s charge more pleasant?

hedora 3y ago
Many charging stations are located inside parks or near nice sit down restaurants. I think this makes long term sense. You mays well enjoy the 30-60 minutes it will take the car to charge.
- seanmcdirmid 3y ago
  It isn’t really 30-60 minutes though. I’ve never had a charging session go over 20 minutes, which is too long to sit in the car and too short to grab more than something at the convenience store or maybe to go from a fast food restaurant. But I always charge to 80-85%. Maybe an L2 charger at a park or mall is better for a longer term stop, since unlike an L3 charger, it takes an hour or two to make any decent progress.
  - hedora 3y ago
    The trick is to go to 100%. They trickle charge the last bit while you pay your check.
whycome 3y ago
Canada just announced that it want no gas cars (hybrid fine i think?) by 2035 with yearly percentage requirements for manufacturers (eg, 40% of vehicles to be EV, etc). That seems like a pretty insane timeline if they're not actually driving the work for the charging infrastructure. There are way too many homes/places that would have to be retrofitted.
- callalex 3y ago
  I assume you mean no NEW cars in 2035. Meaning used cars will be around for another 20+ years.

amluto 3y ago

I’m still amazed that companies build EVs that will fail in a way that requires service if they don’t like a charger. A friend’s early Audi e-Tron would fail and require extensive service if connected to a J1772 charger that advertised more current capacity than the car could handle. (That is really pathetic BTW. It seemed like the car’s onboard charger would draw excessive current and dry itself if given permission to do so.) Or maybe the Blazer wasn’t breaking so much as charging in a highly degraded mode because it didn’t like the charger’s output?

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
malfist 3y ago
The crazy thing is current is pulled, not pushed. Give something 1,000 Amps and if it needs only 5mA, it'll only pull 5mA unless something is bad wrong in its power handling
- rational_indian 3y ago
  Current can be "pushed" if you increase the voltage.
  - malfist 3y ago
    No, it can't. Voltage is pushed, current is not. A device drawing 5v@5mA from a 5v 1000A supply will continue to draw 5mA if you increase the supply to 100V or 100,000A. Or at least it will until it's fried from the extra wattage. 5V@5mA is 0.025W, but at 100V, that same 5mA pull is half a watt. But it's always 5mA
    - rational_indian 3y ago
      I am talking about a passive load (like a resistor). Increasing the voltage will push more current through it.

ZeroGravitas 3y ago

https://www.edmunds.com/car-news/2024-chevy-blazer-ev-long-term-faults.html https://www.edmunds.com/car-news/2024-chevy-blazer-ev-long-t... Edmunds seem to have had a similarly catastrophic time with their long term review purchase.

rnk 3y ago
There are multiple reports of similar problems on related vehicles like lyriq, also see reddit for some. There's nothing good there. Behind it there's the mysterious lack of details about underlying anemic ultium production in general.

RalfWausE 3y ago

It has a reason why i drive an old Audi 80 B2 without any software on board...