Electrify America "Congestion Reduction Pilot" - July 8, 2024

[Gino]

In Baker, CA there are over 100 chargers and less than 20 EA chargers so I’ve been in line for 30+ minutes when Tesla chargers were at the most 40% occupied… EA simply needs 10X more chargers everywhere but Elon has had quite a big head start.
Once my 3 year, 30 minute free charging contract is up I’m likely going to have no choice but to use Tesla chargers which will likely have a lower energy cost per kWh than the EA chargers as well as no lines…
It appears all the other EV manufacturers have dumped a huge glut of free 30 minute users onto EA, Charge Point & Charge Hub but none of these companies have come close to building the charging infrastructure to support the EVs they are spitting out every day.
Musk will happily take my money at a Tesla charger which does not have to worry about congestion at charging stations even though it takes longer to charge at 400V instead of 800V(technically).
I’ll bet EA relies on contracts for the 3 year free 30 minute charging from not only Porsche/Audi/VW but also Mercedes, GM, Ford & others who only offer this 3 year free 30 minute charging to copy what Tesla started after offering unlimited charging on 2018 & earlier model S vehicles.
EA could really care less if there are waiting lines for their chargers. Their only interest is to one day install enough chargers to satisfy the demand which continues to grow their profits year after year…

By the way… does anyone know when there will be an adapter available which is approved by Porsche so Taycan owners can have the option to use Tesla chargers & charge to 85% or 100% as needed?

Sponsored

 

[daveo4EV]

In Baker, CA there are over 100 chargers and less than 20 EA chargers so I’ve been in line for 30+ minutes when Tesla chargers were at the most 40% occupied… EA simply needs 10X more chargers everywhere but Elon has had quite a big head start.
Once my 3 year, 30 minute free charging contract is up I’m likely going to have no choice but to use Tesla chargers which will likely have a lower energy cost per kWh than the EA chargers as well as no lines…
It appears all the other EV manufacturers have dumped a huge glut of free 30 minute users onto EA, Charge Point & Charge Hub but none of these companies have come close to building the charging infrastructure to support the EVs they are spitting out every day.
Musk will happily take my money at a Tesla charger which does not have to worry about congestion at charging stations even though it takes longer to charge at 400V instead of 800V(technically).
I’ll bet EA relies on contracts for the 3 year free 30 minute charging from not only Porsche/Audi/VW but also Mercedes, GM, Ford & others who only offer this 3 year free 30 minute charging to copy what Tesla started after offering unlimited charging on 2018 & earlier model S vehicles.
EA could really care less if there are waiting lines for their chargers. Their only interest is to one day install enough chargers to satisfy the demand which continues to grow their profits year after year…

Macan EV only comes with 1 year "included" 30 minute sessions for EA - interesting change

the whole 400V/800V charging speed advantage is "over done" IMHO - Tesla Superchargers at 400V already do 250 kW (V3 and V4) - and I rarely get 270 kW in my Taycan any ways

for the most part we are all lucky to get 125-175 kW at a charging session and that is well with in the capabilities of 400V charging systems.

I'm an engineer by training and in the tech world for 30+ years - I fully understand what the advantages should be for 800V charging over 400V - but if you ask me to point any actual manifested advantages in actual products that are shipping today I'd be hard pressed to demonstrate any actual tangible advantage that is being delivered as a meaningful difference in product experience…

I don't care what voltage it is if it's 125 kW or more and works when I plug it in…anything else is marketing BS to distract us from the fact that they are about 10 years late to the party and still haven't caught up to what the Model S could do in 2014…and a 2024 Model 3 can do for about 1/3rd the product retail cost.

 

[daveo4EV]

By the way… does anyone know when there will be an adapter available which is approved by Porsche so Taycan owners can have the option to use Tesla chargers & charge to 85% or 100% as needed?

it's less about the "adapter being approved" by Porsche and more about Porsche/Tesla completing their business agreement to "authorize" Porsche vehicle's to start charging sessions at a supercharger - MagicDock enabled stations which already allow Taycan to charge at North American superchargers already demonstrably function for Taycan owners…

if should be noted however that it is still unclear if there will be a required software change to onboard Taycan software to "enable" non-MagicDock supercharging - and it's still an open issue as to _IF_ such a change is practical or feasible - To date Porsche/VW/Audi have been silent on what a compatibility story looks like. We _KNOW_ it can work because it already works with MagicDocks and in Europe - but the question is are there additional software changes required (mostly around billing, activation, plug&charge and session management) required of the vehicle beyond the pure DC charging support - so we're stuck - we have working supercharging compatibility with MagicDock in North American, and CCS2 in Europe - but it's unclear if that is "sufficient" in North America for what Tesla requires for non-MagicDock sites…so it's a wait and see situation - and personally I'd prepare to be disappointed if you want to bet on an outcome.

the remaining shoe to drop is when will Tesla "throw the switch" with Porsche's co-operation to "authorize" Porsche vehicle's to be at Tesla superchargers…

that is a less technical problem, and more of a roll out and business agreement problem.

VW/Audi/Porsche's public PR statement noted 2025 as the time frame in which we could expect that to happen, but all of the vendors are running behind so it may be 2026 if VW/Audi/Porsche follow the "herd" and the apparent delays that are happening…

you can purchase a functional adapter today from Leviton, but your Porsche vehicle is not yet authorized for North American supercharger access…

The Taycan's in Europe already enjoy supercharger access - no adapter required - so all the core physical technology is present in the vehicle, we're down to negotiated business arrangements at this point.

as to why it would take so long - I have no idea…

here is the official VW press release discussing North American supercharger access - to my knowledge this is still the most current/accurate/official information available (I welcome correction) - but it's now about 9 months old with no update - https://media.vw.com/en-us/releases/1774

 

[Gino]

Macan EV only comes with 1 year "included" 30 minute sessions for EA - interesting change

the whole 400V/800V charging speed advantage is "over done" IMHO - Tesla Superchargers at 400V already do 250 kW (V3 and V4) - and I rarely get 270 kW in my Taycan any ways

for the most part we are all lucky to get 125-175 kW at a charging session and that is well with in the capabilities of 400V charging systems.

I'm an engineer by training and in the tech world for 30+ years - I fully understand what the advantages should be for 800V charging over 400V - but if you ask me to point any actual manifested advantages in actual products that are shipping today I'd be hard pressed to demonstrate any actual tangible advantage that is being delivered as a meaningful difference in product experience…

I don't care what voltage it is if it's 125 kW or more and works when I plug it in…anything else is marketing BS to distract us from the fact that they are about 10 years late to the party and still haven't caught up to what the Model S could do in 2014…and a 2024 Model 3 can do for about 1/3rd the product retail cost.

Tesla superchargers are slower than EA chargers when EA chargers are above 150KW. The only problem is that I tend to find many more Tesla chargers which will charge as fast or faster than EA chargers because I have rarely seen charging rates at EA above 150kw. I usually see 80kw to 130kw at 800v with EA but when I charge a Tesla I almost always charge at no less than 150kw and more than not, charge well over 200kw at 400V so the time it takes to charge is usually similar. Ideally the 800v chargers should be faster but they almost never get close to 300kw let alone the 350kw they advertise these chargers to be capable of.
I’m an electrical engineer with 44 years of experience in commercial & residential power as well as low power energy management systems, electronics and semiconductor design & fabrication.
EA is behind the eight ball since they have a lot of catching up to do but I don’t appreciate the way they incorrectly market their chargers by publishing specs they rarely come close to meeting.
I’ve had my Taycan for just under a year and have only seen above 150kw once. Every other session was well below 130kw 50% of the time.
That’s a terrible record for a company that labels these chargers as 350kw.
Once my free 30 minute charging expires next January I would be more likely to charge at a Tesla charger which will deliver a higher level of power in 30-45 minutes than a typical EA charger from my experience.
Not sure when Porsche will approve a Tesla adapter but it sounds like Porsche/Audi/VW is pulling back on the free charging incentive which helped to sell EVs against Tesla.
The more people which get the option to charge their non-Tesla vehicles at a Tesla charger, the more business EA will lose. EA won’t be able to rely on free charging contracts, the more vehicle manufacturers reduce the free charging period allowing customers to decide what companies provide the best charging service at the lowest cost/kwh.

 

[Gino]

it's less about the "adapter being approved" by Porsche and more about Porsche/Tesla completing their business agreement to "authorize" Porsche vehicle's to start charging sessions at a supercharger - MagicDock enabled stations which already allow Taycan to charge at North American superchargers already demonstrably function for Taycan owners…

if should be noted however that it is still unclear if there will be a required software change to onboard Taycan software to "enable" non-MagicDock supercharging - and it's still an open issue as to _IF_ such a change is practical or feasible - To date Porsche/VW/Audi have been silent on what a compatibility story looks like. We _KNOW_ it can work because it already works with MagicDocks and in Europe - but the question is are there additional software changes required (mostly around billing, activation, plug&charge and session management) required of the vehicle beyond the pure DC charging support - so we're stuck - we have working supercharging compatibility with MagicDock in North American, and CCS2 in Europe - but it's unclear if that is "sufficient" in North America for what Tesla requires for non-MagicDock sites…so it's a wait and see situation - and personally I'd prepare to be disappointed if you want to bet on an outcome.

the remaining shoe to drop is when will Tesla "throw the switch" with Porsche's co-operation to "authorize" Porsche vehicle's to be at Tesla superchargers…

that is a less technical problem, and more of a roll out and business agreement problem.

VW/Audi/Porsche's public PR statement noted 2025 as the time frame in which we could expect that to happen, but all of the vendors are running behind so it may be 2026 if VW/Audi/Porsche follow the "herd" and the apparent delays that are happening…

you can purchase a functional adapter today from Leviton, but your Porsche vehicle is not yet authorized for North American supercharger access…

The Taycan's in Europe already enjoy supercharger access - no adapter required - so all the core physical technology is present in the vehicle, we're down to negotiated business arrangements at this point.

as to why it would take so long - I have no idea…

here is the official VW press release discussing North American supercharger access - to my knowledge this is still the most current/accurate/official information available (I welcome correction) - but it's now about 9 months old with no update - https://media.vw.com/en-us/releases/1774

Thanks so much for all the details.
All I get from my dealer is that it’s coming but they don’t know when…
For now I can work with EA for as little as I drive. I charge no more than once a week unless I do a trip to Las Vegas for the weekend when I will charge 5 to 6 times over 3-4 days. I do have to avoid rush hour periods when the chargers are jammed…

 

[Jonathan S.]

[...] shout out to @Jonathan S. - love your posts and information you provide and the background - please keep it up - I learn so much…

Glad you find all this interesting -- from my perspective, so fascinating to be a consumer in such a strange market that is exactly the confluence of economics and public policy that I have been either studying as a student or analyzing as a consultant ever since 1985.

Even aside from the personal frustration, I am disappointed at the failures of gov't involvement, which without the benefit of hindsight I would have thought made sense at the time.

But EA, the 2021 NEVI funding, the VT 2019 & 2020 funding ... sure, the case could be made that what we have from that is better than nothing.
However, I suspect (although of course I could never prove) that w/o those initiatives, private efforts without any gov't subsidies would have done better.

The I-91 corridor from the MA<>CT border up to the junction with I-89 is a perfect example:

• TSCN covered this many years ago, with 52 chargers, and another 12 just barely across the border in CT, so let's call that 64 for a major transportation route.
• The original EA station from 2018 near I-91 & I-90 goes through periodic spells of dysfunction and still has only four chargers, whereas the EA station from a couple years at the junction with I-89 has four chargers that are usually messed up (e.g., all four broken on Labor Day last year, and currently one has been broken for 41 days straight according to an Ioniq 5 driver who must be the most ticked-off reviewer on PlugShare).
• The sole VT NEVI station (one of only eight in the country, almost three years after the Congressional legislation) is too far north of the I-89 juncture to be of much use (except for me personally when driving to my Mt Washington house, hah!).
• The VT state network from 2019 & 2020 funding is still being built out, all the stations are only two chargers each, usually only 50kW, and many of them are already broken.
• Also a random collection of stations with just one or two slow chargers, including a 24kW DCFC, which must the world's slowest CCS1 charger?
• Rivian, seemingly out of nowhere, just built three stations with six 200kW chargers each, perfectly positioned, which will solve the coverage (once Rivian flicks the switch to allow universal access).

 

[Jonathan S.]

EA charging is bad. For almost 2 years, I have only used EA charging twice.
There is always line waiting to get charged.
Last time I took my wife model 3 to Tesla supercharge. There was EA charging in the same parking lot. Tons of free spaces for Tesla, and there were 5-6 cars line up for EA charging.

Just adds insult to injury (in the form of waiting...) when a typical EA has only four chargers in a massive Walmart parking lot within sight of a 16-charger TSCN station.

The 800v architecture is also such a tease.
Sure, my Taycan in theory has a better charging curve than my wife's i4.
But she consistently gets over 200kW at Magic Docks, whereas I end up in the 130s.
At EA, only twice have we gotten above the low double digits for long ... and that was at an ostensible 150kW, which delivered 181kW one day and 188kW another day.
Meanwhile, I have my A2Z adaptor, so waiting for authentication...

 

[Tooney]

But @Jonathan S. , look at all EA is doing to upgrade and expand its infrastructure in California:

California

• Station Upgrades: Currently unavailable while legacy hardware is upgraded to the newest generation of chargers.
  • Westfield Culver City (Station 110013) at 6000 Sepulveda Blvd, Culver City, California 90230
  • Target (Station 110014) at 1405 W Pacheco Blvd, Los Banos, California 93635
  • Ralphs 71 (Station 210078) at 12075 Euclid St, Garden Grove, California 92840
  • Safeway (Station 110006) at 1212 Forest Ave, Pacific Grove, California 93950
  • Target (Station 200042) at 2169 W Redondo Beach Blvd, Gardena, California 90247
  • Safeway (Station 100011) at 2601 Balls Ferry Rd, Anderson, California 96007
  • Ralphs 6 (Station 210006) at 17840 Ventura Blvd, Encino, California 91316
  • Target (Station 200059) at 30602 Santa Margarita Pkwy, Rancho Santa Margarita, California 92688
  • Carlsbad Premium Outlets (Station 200150) at 5620 Paseo Del Norte, Carlsbad, California 92008
  • Ralphs 715 (Station 210077) at 330 N Atlantic Blvd, Monterey Park, California 91754
  • Ralph's (Station 210006) at 17840 Ventura Blvd, Encino, California 91316
  • Magnolia Square Shopping Center (Station 200168) at 2005 Crow Canyon Place, San Ramon, California 94583
  • Target (Station 110080) at 3100 Baldwin Park Blvd, Baldwin Park, California 91706
  • Buck Meadows Lodge (Station 110004) at 7649 CA-120, Groveland, California 95321
  • Westfield Valencia Town Center (Station 210011) at 24201 Valencia Blvd, Valencia, California 91355
  • Target (Station 100019) at 5104 Commons Dr, Rocklin, California 95677
  • Inventrust Bear Creek Village Center (Station 210349) at Clinton Keith Rd & I-15, Wildomar, California 92595
  • Inventrust Stevenson Ranch Plaza (Station 210413) at 24909 Pico Canyon Rd, Stevenson Ranch, California 91381
  • Shopcore Northwood Town Center (Station 210418) at 4800 Irvine Blvd, Irvine, California 92620
  • Target (Station 210429) at 11000 Stockdale Hwy, Bakersfield, California 93311
  • Target (Station 210075) at 72549 Hwy 111, Palm Desert, California 92260
• Upcoming Station Upgrades: Unavailable beginning on the following date while legacy hardware is upgraded to the newest generation of chargers.
  • July 23, 2024
    • Walmart (Station 200078) at 26502 Towne Centre Dr, Foothill Ranch, California 92610
    • Walmart (Station 200066) at 951 Avenida Pico, San Clemente, California 92673
  • July 24, 2024
    • Felicita Plaza (Station 200149) at 329 W Felicita Ave, Escondido, California 92025
    • Target (Station 210265) at 1893 W Malvern Ave, Fullerton, California 92833
    • Walmart (Station 100039) at 1301 N Victory Place, Burbank, California 91502
    • Walmart (Station 200143) at 710 Dennery Rd, San Diego, California 92154
  • July 29, 2024
    • Westfield UTC (Station 210034) at 4545 La Jolla Village Dr, San Diego, California 92112
    • Bank of America (Station 210022) at 11525 Crenshaw Blvd, Inglewood, California 90303
    • Save Mart FoodMaxx (Station 210282) at 39966 Cedar Blvd, Newark, California 94560
    • Country Hills Shopping Plaza (Station 200064) at 2965 Rolling Hills Rd, Torrance, California 90505
    • Johnson Hotel-Doubletree (Station 210511) at 7050 Johnson Dr, Pleasanton, California 94588
    • Walmart (Station 200141) at 1200 Highland Ave, National City, California 91950
    • Bank of America (Station 210040) at 512 Fletcher Pkwy, El Cajon, California 92020
  • July 31, 2024
    • Bank of America (Station 210357) at 740 E Calaveras Blvd, Milpitas, California 95035
    • Bank of America (Station 210032) at 3101 University Ave, San Diego, California 92104
    • Regency Westlake Plaza (Station 210466) at 2725-2785 Agoura Rd, Westlake Village, California 91361
    • Pavilions (Station 210266) at 727 N Vine St, Los Angeles, California 90038
    • Ralphs (Station 210016) at 3410 W 3rd St, Los Angeles, California 90020
    • Walmart (Station 200144) at 3382 Murphy Canyon Rd, San Diego, California 92123
• Upcoming Station Expansion: Unavailable beginning on the following date while the expansion project is completed.
  • July 29, 2024
    • Cypress Village (Station 200058) at 14001 Jeffrey Rd, Irvine, California 92620.
• Maintenance: Currently unavailable while undergoing maintenance.
  • Bank of America (Station 200170) at 3067 Castro Valley Blvd, Castro Valley, California 94546
• Vandalism: Unavailable due to vandalism. We are working with law enforcement agencies to enhance security at this station and procure the parts.
  • Walmart (Station 200194) at 600 Showers Dr, Mountain View, California 94040
  • Walmart (Station 200165) at 30600 Dyer St, Union City, California 94587
  • Walmart (Station 100032) at 3010 W Grant Line Rd, Tracy, California 95304
  • Lucky 736 (Station 200157) at 247 E 18th St, Oakland, California 94606
  • Site Centers Hilltop Plaza (Station 210047) at 3401 Blume Dr, Richmond, California 94806
  • Walmart (Station 100047) at 2111 Fulkerth Rd, Turlock, California 95380

Electrify America Network Updates

 

[Jonathan S.]

I wonder what the average downtime is for such station upgrades?
The EA FB group has reports of many frustrated drivers, but I don't get any sense from those just how many days (weeks? months?) this typically entails.

As for the so-called vandalism, such copper theft is so distressing, especially given that a charger worth tens of thousands of dollars is disabled for the sake of about only ten bucks.
And check out the prevalence of such theft:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/09/...e_code=1.9k0.ukuU.f28GytgmgVkU&smid=url-share

 

[Gino]

Glad you find all this interesting -- from my perspective, so fascinating to be a consumer in such a strange market that is exactly the confluence of economics and public policy that I have been either studying as a student or analyzing as a consultant ever since 1985.

Even aside from the personal frustration, I am disappointed at the failures of gov't involvement, which without the benefit of hindsight I would have thought made sense at the time.

But EA, the 2021 NEVI funding, the VT 2019 & 2020 funding ... sure, the case could be made that what we have from that is better than nothing.
However, I suspect (although of course I could never prove) that w/o those initiatives, private efforts without any gov't subsidies would have done better.

The I-91 corridor from the MA<>CT border up to the junction with I-89 is a perfect example:

• TSCN covered this many years ago, with 52 chargers, and another 12 just barely across the border in CT, so let's call that 64 for a major transportation route.
• The original EA station from 2018 near I-91 & I-90 goes through periodic spells of dysfunction and still has only four chargers, whereas the EA station from a couple years at the junction with I-89 has four chargers that are usually messed up (e.g., all four broken on Labor Day last year, and currently one has been broken for 41 days straight according to an Ioniq 5 driver who must be the most ticked-off reviewer on PlugShare).
• The sole VT NEVI station (one of only eight in the country, almost three years after the Congressional legislation) is too far north of the I-89 juncture to be of much use (except for me personally when driving to my Mt Washington house, hah!).
• The VT state network from 2019 & 2020 funding is still being built out, all the stations are only two chargers each, usually only 50kW, and many of them are already broken.
• Also a random collection of stations with just one or two slow chargers, including a 24kW DCFC, which must the world's slowest CCS1 charger?
• Rivian, seemingly out of nowhere, just built three stations with six 200kW chargers each, perfectly positioned, which will solve the coverage (once Rivian flicks the switch to allow universal access).

Wow! I had no idea how much worse the infrastructure for charging outside of Tesla is on the east coast compared to California. I have at least 5 choices of EA stations within 5 miles of my home in OC. In average there are 3-4 chargers at most of these stations but several have up to 8. I just have to plan a bit to know when they are not too busy which is a bit of nuisance but easily achievable.
The fact I am close to retirement and don’t drive anywhere near what I used to every day/week/month or year means the people that need the ability to reliably get to charging stations every day is still not good enough but hopefully will continue to improve.
I recently went to the auto museum in Reno, NV to see some of the early EVs using lead-acid batteries made by a company called Baker back in the 1900’s. Back then people were saying petrol powered vehicles was like carrying a bomb with you by requiring you carry a highly flammable petrol filled tank! Obviously that argument never actually held water. Today EVs have a different justification and a path to stick around. It’s always fun to be involved in historical change. We’ve come a long way!

 

[mod72346]

EA sucks. Instead of building out the infra, they squeeze drivers. Disgusting

 

[Jonathan S.]

The non-TSCN DCFC coverage In VT and northern NH is bizarrely deficient.

Switching over from VT I-91 to NH I-93, the Tesla count from north of Concord (state capital, and the furthest point of civilization in NH) up to Lincoln (exit for the major Loon ski resort, and just a bit south of the sort-of-major Cannon ski resort, and just before the exit for the major Bretton Woods ski resort) is 46.

The non-TSCN DCFC count is … 0. (Used to be two 50kW chargers in a somewhat obscure shopping mall, but those were disconnected this April.)

Let’s review those #s again:

TSCN = 46

Non-TSCN DCFC = 0

If the count is extended a bit further south to include Concord, then, whoah, check it out, a car dealer in January added six plugs: three 240kW chargers, with 120kW for each plug if used simultaneously, so pretty good! (If your car can make it from there in bitterly cold temps up to your ski destination, then back again.)

I had also forgotten to add for my I-91 count that a car dealer near me in Mass. in April added three ChargePoint Express Plus 320kW chargers, with 160kW for each plug if used simultaneously, so pretty good! (Same caveat on range.)

Now here’ s the punchline: both of those dealerships are Ford, which was supposed to be giving up on its charging network in favor of TSCN access.

Even aside from that, interesting to see that private initiatives are filling (or at least, starting to fill) the gaps that have remained after over six years of EA and almost three years of NEVI.

Going south from Boston & CT down to DC, far more options, but almost all of them are miserably insufficient four-charger EA stations, or even smaller stations.
However, the recent Magic Dock extension has now made CCS1 roadtripping viable down there. This expansion has evade the attention of the various EV social media influencers, but still exists nevertheless!

Meanwhile, my wife, due to poor planning (i.e., forgetting to charge last night!), had to charge at what is typically an okay-ish EA near Worcester (correction pronunciation = Wuh-stah!).
Although she did not hit the i4 charging curve, she did hit 173kW ... on ostensible 150kW charger.
The only four times we've gotten decent charges from EA have been at units labeled 150kW.
So keep that in mind the next you see a Bolt at an ostensible 350!

 

[leibao217]

I need to charge to 100% only when I’m driving Newport To Las Vegas since at 85% my 2021 base Taycan only gets to 175 miles and less during high heat periods with temps in the desert at 100+ degrees draining the battery even faster (easily less than 150 mile range at 100% SOC). This would leave me with 120 miles at 85% which is unacceptable for EA to cut me off at 85%.
EA is owned by Audi/Porsche and should not limit their own cars charging at 800V to charge to 100%.
my range is bad enough but now EA/Audi is screwing me after they sold me my Taycan by knee capping my range. People should be charged a larger fee after 10 minutes from reaching 100% but EA should have them towed away after 30 minutes at idle since all too frequently I have seen Mercedes, Bentley and other high end car owners simply park at an EA charger for hours after charging to go shopping or to dinner since they don’t care what the additional charging fees amount to. To them it’s just another parking space. This has happened repeatedly in both LA & Las Vegas.
EA needs more stations and make sure they work. I rarely see above 130KWH charging speed at 350KW or 150KW stations so it takes 30 minutes to go from 40% to 85%.
There are 10X the Tesla chargers between OC/LA & Las Vegas and no lines so I’m sure Elon Musk will be happy to take EA’s business with the Magic dock adapter when it becomes available for Porsche/Audi/VWs.
I wouldn’t have bought my Taycan if I knew EA would handicap my range even more on long trips which is the only time I really need 100% of my range.
The drivers with vehicles at 400V max charging should be the ones which are limited to 85% or a max time on the charger of 30 minutes max. If they can’t charge quickly enough then they should only get 30 minutes charging & move on.
I’m still in my “free 30 minute charging period” until 2025 so I would get short changed on the plan I paid for in my vehicle purchase. I can get from 30% to 85% on a 350kw charger in 20 minutes & 100% in 30 minutes in Barstow or Baker, CA which gives me too little range at 100+ degrees to get to Las Vegas.
EA/Audi should think twice about changing my contract for my “free 30 minute of charging” to “free 30 minutes or to 85% charging”. This would be a breach of contract. The majority of vehicles spending too much time taking up a charger space are not Porsche, Audi & VWs unless they are being inconsiderate by going to dinner, shopping or simply using it as a parking space.

Baker station is fine, but barstow at walmart drives me crazy.. Long wait all the time.. Same thing happened in Vegas.. Those EA stations at shopping centers are packed..

 

[Gino]

Very good information. I guess I’ve been spoiled in California since Tesla started in Fremont before he moved the headquarters to Austin but it stands to reason that is why Elon built so many chargers throughout the state especially along the interstates between San Francisco & San Diego as well as in no man’s land in the eastern part of the state to get to Las Vegas.
There must be over 1000 Tesla chargers in California when there are 120 alone at the Baker, CA rest area in between LA/OC & LV.
It will take years for other companies to catch up to that and more likely other EV manufacturers will want to tap into Tesla’s network so they can sell EVs without having to deal with customers complaining they can’t find enough chargers…

 

[Jonathan S.]

So within about a mile radius in NJ near Philadelphia are three major stations:
- EA with an unusually large eight chargers, but as is typical with EA, a driver reported today that three chargers were broken leading to some sort of 90-minute ordeal.
- Magic Dock with 12 chargers.
- Newly opened Magic Dock with 40 chargers.

Here are some cropped pictures I copied from Facebook:

Sponsored