Here's an article that's making the social media rounds on charging EVs in the USA, it's not very pretty:
https://www.vox.com/climate/23589785/ev-dc-fast-charging-station-battery-electric-tesla-rivian
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It would be interesting to know the count of EA successful charging sessions. It would also be interesting to know the count of Tesla charging sessions for a comparison.
ReplyDeleteFUD like this isn't really very truthful, or helpful.
ReplyDelete"According to a 2022 J.D. Power survey, one in five EV drivers didn’t charge their vehicle during a visit to a public charging station last year, mainly due to outages or malfunctions."
I used Electrify America nearly 100 times in 2022, never once was I unable to charge during my visit. Sure, had a few OOS units, but moved to the next stall and it worked fine.
I would guess the comment, which is buried in the linked JD Power study, intended to state 1 in 5 had not been able to charge at least once in their lifetime, but even that seems high to me, I have never been unable to charge at a DCFC stop in 5 years. The linked report also said 745 out of 100 found DCFC to be a satisfying experience.
Dan, I suspect EA success rates overall are fairly similar to SuC, but the numbers are much lower due to market share. A lot of the criticism of EA chargers comes from Tesla owners who may be spoiled, or biased towards SuC. I wouldn't go so far as to say the networks are equal, but there may be less difference than some suspect.
Now that a variety of SuC issues are becoming known, such as the 500V limitation gimping fast charging on 800V EVs, short cords, etc I suspect SuC satisfaction numbers will dip in the coming years. That is too bad, but maybe V4 chargers will arrive soon enough to ward off some of the criticisms.
The positive take though is that reputations are being tarnished, which is often the stimulus needed to get providers to pay more attention to problems. I remain hopeful!