EV Sales Leave Chargers Playing Catchup
- Thread starter Shel_B
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In British Columbia, there is a small town called Hope, where three major highways carry traffic through the mountains towards the east. They are highways 1,3 and 5. Although there are chargers on each of these highways, EV drivers tend to top up their cars in Hope because they are nervous about driving through the mountains. The Victoria Day weekend, on the third Monday of May is coming up and is traditionally a heavy traffic day. Last year, the Tesla’s were lined up through the town waiting for a charge.
There are 12 V2 and 24 V3 Tesla superchargers in the town.
I’ll report back.
There are 12 V2 and 24 V3 Tesla superchargers in the town.
I’ll report back.
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I see 9 charging sites now in Hope with maybe ~50 charging spots total? Petro Canada even has some!In British Columbia, there is a small town called Hope, where three major highways carry traffic through the mountains towards the east. They are highways 1,3 and 5. Although there are chargers on each of these highways, EV drivers tend to top up their cars in Hope because they are nervous about driving through the mountains. The Victoria Day weekend, on the third Monday of May is coming up and is traditionally a heavy traffic day. Last year, the Tesla’s were lined up through the town waiting for a charge.
There are 12 V2 and 24 V3 Tesla superchargers in the town.
I’ll report back.
I think with the low cost for a charger, more will show up as well.
Looks like Petro Canada has chosen to charge a flat rate of $0.50 per minute while on their chargers. This equates to $0.35 per minute in US funds.
Charging by minute vs by energy delivered is usually bad for consumers, if you don't get a decent charging speed (cold battery, high state of charge, problems with charging station, etc.) the cost can be astronomical. Imagine being charged lets say $10 per minute at a gas pump but having the pump trickling out 1 gallon per minute because its cold or the pump is in disrepair, however its a great value if the pump can shoot out 10 GPM.
Here in the states it seems the $ per/KWH thing is something that the states need to require from the charging companies. My state (Georgia) is still allowing per minute pricing but there is a bill moving through the works that will require per/KWH pricing which will be a huge win for EV drivers. If it takes you an hour to charge from 10-80% because the battery is ice cold it will cost the same amount as charging from 10-80% in 30 minutes.
I suppose a time based charge will discourage EV owners from spending time charging from 80-100%, freeing up the charger for someone who wants to charge from say 10 to 80%. ( both cases with warm batteries).
But automobiles already exist is todays world. An EV is just another engine, the public will decide if its convenient or not to own one, some will find it convenient and many will find it inconvenient, lets say, a step backwards in time to the Henry Ford days.
Gas pumps now exist for automobiles, so for many, why switch to a different engine that needs special "fuel" with zero infrastructure and zero production facilities for that "fuel"
After all like previously posted CA couldn't supply enough power at times last year to watch TV, never mind fill up an automobile with electricity so why switch from gas which is plentiful to electricity and at a MUCH high cost ???
Very true about the 80-100% part. The only resolution I can think is to bump the cost once battery hits 80% to discourage the practice but then that gets into needlessly penalizing folks who might need more than 80% to get to their next charging stop if they are on a roadtrip.
EV adoption is uncovering a lot of scenarios to try to work through, hopefully we will find some kinda happy medium or the charging network will get dense enough to where someone occupying a charger for that 80-100% won't be delaying someone else from charging or there won't be a need for road trippers to go beyond 80% to make their next stop.
There is a simplicity factor to EVs. There are 95% less moving parts. The counter argument is the amount of micro processors. connections,etc. to keep everything in check. Of course ECMs have been around for decades-and when was the last time you heard of one needing replacement?
Range is already improving... (battery) cost will be next.
Keeping this non-political-but it needs to be mentioned-is that ICE will probably be legislated and taxed off the roads. The new clean air standards have just come out-it is already happening.
EV's work for a great for lots of people, even though they aren't a great fit for me.
"Special fuel and Zero infrastructure simply isnt accurate." A very high % of EV owners (and us citizens) can charge at home so the claim that there is zero infrastructure just doesn't hold water when your house becomes your gas station. Electricity comes out of every spigot in your home, it's far from special.
"like previously posted" - as much as I love to bag on California, the overall uptime of electricity compares favorably to any given gas stations.
Sadly for all my cylinders, oil is no longer a not a stabile product with all kinds of supply chain conflict over thousands of miles and dozens of vendors long.
The theoretical simplicity has not always equated to improved real-world reliability - just look at CVT's, for instance. As a group, worse than your traditional stepped gear automatic.
As for ECM's (and modules), it really varies. The Japanese have been very good - domestics/euro, not so much; those still get replaced very regularly.
Where's the incentive to make faster charging too if they're charging by the minute? They make more the longer you sit there and the slower it charges is the less they pay for power at the same time. Some of these charging companies need to stop. I know so many are upset that Tesla caters only to their cars other than a few chargers, but it just works and doesn't take guess work to do it.
I'm sure it will eventually move away from per minute pricing but right now its a state by state thing. I would have to look if Tesla does the per minute pricing where allowed but I know that the non-Tesla networks definitely charge by minute where they can, seems it skews the $$$ in their favor.
Double edged sword for the states as at least here in Georgia EV drivers pay sales tax on the cost of their charge, imagine it is similar elsewhere. More money for a charge, more sales tax dollars for the state. Do we give up sales tax dollars to make our constituents happy or do we make our constituents happy and lose a little bit of tax revenue.
I've never personally seen Tesla chargers charge per minute, but I'm sure it's possible. Someone has to find a clever way to take our money though, whether it is a company or the government.
I've owned a PHEV for four months now. It has a low battery acceptance rate and isn't compatible with fast DC chargers. That being said, I can only recall one instance when I arrived at a charging station when none were available. Speaking to the OP's point, this is going to get worse soon.
Hes got an VW MEB car, so he's prob seen the EA network charge different ways, they can charge by time, by speed, or by a tiered or flat rate.
Ive only ever seen a supercharger charge by KWH, Idle fees are something like a 1.00 a minute.
I've seen them cap charging at something like 80% at specific places.
Sleep well California. Is your EV plugged in? If so, most of the power is coming from natural gas power plants. 
It's all very sad but like you say can not be discussed here. Though can change from administration to administration AND its not possible to replace gasoline with electricty which the public WILL fully understand in roughly 10 years if we get up to a 25% PURE EV saturation on the roadways. I doubt we will but too soon to say and I haven't done the math but doubt we even have enough electricty for 10% never mind 25%.
Right now it's a political "in thing" from politicians more or less the public out to lunch until reality hits and someone asks how can I charge my vehicle if there is no electricity to do it with.
When did you ever see something pass in government such as this and not get amended over and over.
One example would be the debt ceiling for the last 40+ years?
It’s really a California thing. I don’t expect the rest of the States to keep up.
Sleep well California. Is your EV plugged in? If so, most of the power is coming from natural gas power plants.
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No EV plugged in but even if it were, Im not sure what anyone would be particularly annoyed about that?
I like knowing the source of that fuel and power plant construction is domestic.
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