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My city spent a stupid amount of money to build 13 slow chargers across the city based on public feedback. I have zero faith that this will fare any better. Th

My city spent a stupid amount of money to build 13 slow chargers across the city based on public feedback. I have zero faith that this will fare any better. The best EV charger is the one installed in the home. If the government actually wanted to spur adoption it would be through easing permitting and creating boilerplate contract language for apartment and condo chargers.

m463 3y ago
I tried traveling with a nissan leaf ev (24kwh) a couple years ago, and it was COMPLETELY impractical. It was just a stupid leap of faith with giant portions of luck and silly time wasting. 3rd party charging services suck. They have few chargers, they have few stalls and terrible information about them. (The worst was blink, virtually always broken) And then I tried a couple years later with tesla, and it was a completely different experience. Telsas have large batteries, the chargers are very plentiful along most routes, have many stalls, and are dependable. I came to realize having a non-telsa ev is really a waste of time unless you can charge at home and stay in range. So anything to create a reliable network to travel I think is a good idea (for non-tesla cars)
- i80and 3y ago
  I traveled round trip between NJ and MI last year using Electrify America with my ID.4. It was fine, no real pain points -- EA's been improving pretty aggressively in my experience, and I think we're broadly in pretty good shape. I charge exclusively using public chargers.
- Tagbert 3y ago
  Your experience with a Leaf just showed you that old technology in a vehicle with a small battery and slow charging is best for local travel and not good for road tripping. There is a place for such vehicles but the highway is not it. Today, there are lots of much more advanced EVs from dozens of makers that have large range and faster charging. Over the next year, they are all switching over to a new standard charging connection (which was developed by Tesla. Props). The CCS charging network will also be switching over to j3400. Hopefully this increased competition will force more of them to properly maintain their networks or be replaced.
- margalabargala 3y ago
  > I tried traveling with a nissan leaf ev (24kwh) a couple years ago, and it was COMPLETELY impractical A Nissan Leaf, especially the version with the smallest battery, is a commuter car. It's meant to drive you around within your city, never being too far from a charger. It's not meant to travel around with. Your experience isn't a Tesla vs Nissan experience, nor even a Tesla vs non-Tesla experience, nor even a electric vs gas car experience. It's a "travelling long distance in a 100-mile-range vehicle" experience. Nissan, and most other car manufacturers, make cars that have much larger batteries and can go much further. Even most Leaf models can go much further than your 24kwh model. The charging experience is much better when your range is sufficient that you don't have to stop and charge every 90 minutes, and thus have a better diversity of chargers available. One might similarly try to travel in a gas-powered golf cart and complain about how impractical it is.

m463 3y ago

I tried traveling with a nissan leaf ev (24kwh) a couple years ago, and it was COMPLETELY impractical. It was just a stupid leap of faith with giant portions of luck and silly time wasting. 3rd party charging services suck. They have few chargers, they have few stalls and terrible information about them. (The worst was blink, virtually always broken) And then I tried a couple years later with tesla, and it was a completely different experience. Telsas have large batteries, the chargers are very plentiful along most routes, have many stalls, and are dependable. I came to realize having a non-telsa ev is really a waste of time unless you can charge at home and stay in range. So anything to create a reliable network to travel I think is a good idea (for non-tesla cars)

i80and 3y ago
I traveled round trip between NJ and MI last year using Electrify America with my ID.4. It was fine, no real pain points -- EA's been improving pretty aggressively in my experience, and I think we're broadly in pretty good shape. I charge exclusively using public chargers.
Tagbert 3y ago
Your experience with a Leaf just showed you that old technology in a vehicle with a small battery and slow charging is best for local travel and not good for road tripping. There is a place for such vehicles but the highway is not it. Today, there are lots of much more advanced EVs from dozens of makers that have large range and faster charging. Over the next year, they are all switching over to a new standard charging connection (which was developed by Tesla. Props). The CCS charging network will also be switching over to j3400. Hopefully this increased competition will force more of them to properly maintain their networks or be replaced.
margalabargala 3y ago
> I tried traveling with a nissan leaf ev (24kwh) a couple years ago, and it was COMPLETELY impractical A Nissan Leaf, especially the version with the smallest battery, is a commuter car. It's meant to drive you around within your city, never being too far from a charger. It's not meant to travel around with. Your experience isn't a Tesla vs Nissan experience, nor even a Tesla vs non-Tesla experience, nor even a electric vs gas car experience. It's a "travelling long distance in a 100-mile-range vehicle" experience. Nissan, and most other car manufacturers, make cars that have much larger batteries and can go much further. Even most Leaf models can go much further than your 24kwh model. The charging experience is much better when your range is sufficient that you don't have to stop and charge every 90 minutes, and thus have a better diversity of chargers available. One might similarly try to travel in a gas-powered golf cart and complain about how impractical it is.