Recent EV Charging Bad Press

[achaudh]

It seems like EV haters cannot take a break from spewing hate against EV's. The recent cold spell leading to charging issues at Chicago is all over the news. There were a combination of things causing the issue from drivers not preconditioning the battery to ridesharing drivers jamming the charging stations but it seems like this is the kind of news haters were waiting for. Its a known fact that EV's lose up to 30% charge in bad winter. EA and EVGo chargers are unreliable anyways and the cold spell made more of them inoperable probably more than Tesla Superchargers.

At any rate, this type of bad press does harm EV adoption in a skeptical US populace. With Hertz unloading 20k EV's, Ford and GM postponing some of their EV investments, most manufacturers (barring Tesla) still struggling with realizing profits making and selling EVs etc. all make the road ahead challenging. EV incentives are ending or have ended in many countries. What will the road ahead be for EV adoption? What are your all's thoughts? Any stories to share good or bad with Taycan during the cold spell?

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[Hirschaj]

I don’t have any stories but sometimes the bad press is well deserved. What a shit show. We’re all early adopters and with that comes growing pains. The US is not remotely close to being ready for mass EV adoption and won’t be for quite a long time. EVs also have a long way to go before they are fool proof enough for the average consumer.

 

[SergeyIndy]

One thing I noticed how many more different kinds of EVs appeared in the area may be due to good deals and incentives at the end of the year. All these noted during our super cold negative F temps. However, the news are super negative including that Lucid and Fisker not going to make it. I think people are realizing the benefits for local commuting and getting into EVs and betting on expansion of public charging if they cannot charge at home. I think the problems reported are due to general public does not know how to adjust their behavior in having their cars ready for the changing weather conditions.

I see a lot of: Rivian, Lucid, BMW 4/5/7, Ioniqs, Mustang, F150
I saw for the first time: Lexus, Nissan, 2x Cadillac Lyriq, and Fisker
I see a record number of Taycans at my dealer lot sitting there for several months now.

 

[007]

I don’t have any stories but sometimes the bad press is well deserved. What a shit show. We’re all early adopters and with that comes growing pains. The US is not remotely close to being ready for mass EV adoption and won’t be for quite a long time. EVs also have a long way to go before they are fool proof enough for the average consumer.

I agree. Another 10 years and I think we’ll be about there with battery technology, range, weight and charging.

 

[FlyingPoint]

The US charging infrastructure is not ready for prime time, plain and simple. IMHO, the following could go along way to alleviate public DC charging concerns:

• legislate that ride share companies have their own hubs for their drivers. They are simply overwhelming the system.
• Mandate minimum DC charging output to a minimum of 150kW in large population centers. When was the last time you plugged in a toaster at home and it wouldn't work because the current was less than was needed.
• Mandate minimum working up time and fine providers who don't meet the standard. I can't imagine the Public Utility regulators in any country would tolerate your electricity not working at your home, California rolling blackouts, excepted of course.

Unfortunately, none of the above will occur, especially when political winds shift.

 

[philbur]

I agree. Another 10 years and I think we’ll be about there with battery technology, range, weight and charging.

I think the order is backwards. Charging infrastructure is what needs to improve - the others I don’t see drastically changing. Can they put chargers at all the gas stations? I just did an extreme trip from Seattle to Bend OR. Very cold and blizzard. 10hr drive. 2.5hr charging. I need to review all my data and summarize.

 

[RGBArgee]

We seem to have biased media in the UK too. In my experience all cars are less economical in cold weather- Taycan 252 - 205 . Audi S3 35mpg - 28mpg - nothing to stress about!

 

[MAPC]

I am an EV fan for sure----my Taycan is my fourth EV. If I had to rely on public charging, I might feel otherwise. I almost exclusively charge at home, rarely (if ever) have my car at less than 100 miles of range and, candidly, the of the few times that I charge publicly it is generally to top off and get free juice as opposed to 'need a charge'.

When I ordered my 2nd Tesla (my first one was a Roadster), it was in the earliest days of the S- and was offered with 45, 60 and 85 batteries.Since this was the most expensive car I had ever purchased, each incremental $10K was significant. Then I read an article that mentioned that the % of 'drives' over 100 miles that an individual driver makes is less than 5%. This convinced me that the 60 was adequate and I never had an issue (I ordered the 60---which, in the end, was their smallest battery as they never bothered to produce the 45's).

Yes, more range is better than less, and more (quality) chargers are better than fewer, but for my purposes (and I suspect for most), an EV is a great solution (hence why I recently acquired my Taycan).

 

[Horizontally Opposed]

It seems like EV haters cannot take a break from spewing hate against EV's. The recent cold spell leading to charging issues at Chicago is all over the news. There were a combination of things causing the issue from drivers not preconditioning the battery to ridesharing drivers jamming the charging stations but it seems like this is the kind of news haters were waiting for. Its a known fact that EV's lose up to 30% charge in bad winter. EA and EVGo chargers are unreliable anyways and the cold spell made more of them inoperable probably more than Tesla Superchargers.

At any rate, this type of bad press does harm EV adoption in a skeptical US populace. With Hertz unloading 20k EV's, Ford and GM postponing some of their EV investments, most manufacturers (barring Tesla) still struggling with realizing profits making and selling EVs etc. all make the road ahead challenging. EV incentives are ending or have ended in many countries. What will the road ahead be for EV adoption? What are your all's thoughts? Any stories to share good or bad with Taycan during the cold spell?

I don’t share your characterization of it as EV haters, but maybe you saw things which I did not.

Kyle Connor from Out of Spec did a really balanced video about the weather as well as other things affecting charging, and he is a super proponent of EV’s.

This isn’t made up. There are real issues and IMO it is fine and helpful to have an open dialog about all of it. I just bought a new Taycan that I’ve only had for a week, so I am a fan as well, but this is overall in a difficult phase right now. The industry is seeing that the changeover may be slower than expected, at least that is my prediction.

It is fine to recommend people buy a L2 home charger, which I have done, but what happens when I want to go on a road trip? How much trouble will I encounter with public charging?

I think the Hertz announcement dropped like a ton of bricks because they laid it all out with all of the negatives.

 

[DRR]

It seems like EV haters cannot take a break from spewing hate against EV's. The recent cold spell leading to charging issues at Chicago is all over the news. There were a combination of things causing the issue from drivers not preconditioning the battery to ridesharing drivers jamming the charging stations but it seems like this is the kind of news haters were waiting for. Its a known fact that EV's lose up to 30% charge in bad winter. EA and EVGo chargers are unreliable anyways and the cold spell made more of them inoperable probably more than Tesla Superchargers.

At any rate, this type of bad press does harm EV adoption in a skeptical US populace. With Hertz unloading 20k EV's, Ford and GM postponing some of their EV investments, most manufacturers (barring Tesla) still struggling with realizing profits making and selling EVs etc. all make the road ahead challenging. EV incentives are ending or have ended in many countries. What will the road ahead be for EV adoption? What are your all's thoughts? Any stories to share good or bad with Taycan during the cold spell?

Seems like as we approach the tipping point where the general population realizes that EVs are simply better that those with a lot to lose are spreading negative news that is very misleading. If EVs are so bad in cold climates why are 9 out of 10 new car purchases in Norway electric?

 

[Tooney]

It is fine to recommend people buy a L2 home charger, which I have done, but what happens when I want to go on a road trip? How much trouble will I encounter with public charging?

This forum is full of threads with tips on preparing for, planning, and driving Taycan road trips. "proper prior planning prevents ... etc. "

 

[Tooney]

If EVs are so bad in cold climates why are 9 out of 10 new car purchases in Norway electric?

Norway situation is a special EV case, for many reasons. One of which is size:

 

[FlyingPoint]

This forum is full of threads with tips on preparing for, planning, and driving Taycan road trips. "proper prior planning prevents ... etc. "

All the preparing & planning in the world means dog shit when you arrive at your primary charging destination to find it has a two hour wait because 50% of the stations are not working or have been severely de-rated. As a prudent planner, you move on to your back up charging station only to find the situation is just as bad. Road tripping a CCS car in the Northeast is just not workable. When public charging stations resemble gas stations during the gas embargo of the late 70's, it is time to pay attention and think carefully if a CCS EV can work for you as your sole means of transportation.
I love my EV, but I could not survive if it was my sole car.

 

[Jonathan S.]

^ Exactly! At least for the Northeast.

I am a planning and analytical type of guy, so I kind of enjoy making plans with our i4 and Taycan.
Up to a point. If I'm on a trip where I can't "afford" a potential one-hour delay even for adding ~10kWh, then back to the ICE. I've chewed through even generous DCFC buffers because of the woefully inadequate CCS infrastructure here.

That said, when staying within the Taycan range, I actually prefer it to an ICE in cold temps, given that the cabin preheating feature allows wonderful pampering, e.g., hitting the icon on my phone as I'm approaching the skin > skin transition on my final lap, woefully underdressed in lycra, skiing down frozen solid at dusk to find my Taycan nice & toasty!

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