rationing of EV charging is now a reality

[T. A. Gardner]

Yep, another reason to avoid these porkers. Electrify America, a big EV charging station company, has announced it will start charging (pun intended) .40 a minute if you charge your car over 85%. That's right folks, you can only buy 4/5th's of a 'tank' of electricity for your car or the charging company will rape you on the costs.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/04/business/electric-vehicles-ev-charging/index.html

An EV charging company will penalize drivers who take more than they need

Once batteries reach 85%, the cord will shut off automatically, and loiterers will be charged 40 cents-a-minute.

fortune.com

This means if you are trying to dive long distance and have to use Electrify America's charging network, you'll be making more stops and wasting more time because they think it's unfair and impolite of you to want to top off your battery...

 

[ExpressLane]

My son just got back from Colorado he drove 800 plus miles in one day with a 7 year old and a 4 year old in the car. Can you imagine making 4 stops charging that would add 3hrs to the trip.

 

[gfm7175]

My son just got back from Colorado he drove 800 plus miles in one day with a 7 year old and a 4 year old in the car. Can you imagine making 4 stops charging that would add 3hrs to the trip.

I think that (only) 3hrs is being quite generous, but the general idea is being conveyed correctly.

I've driven almost 1,000 miles in one day before. It was a LOOOOOONG day (roughly 6am to 9pm with gas station stops and a food stop), but it was doable with a gasoline powered vehicle. With an EV, that would be impossible.

 

[T. A. Gardner]

My son just got back from Colorado he drove 800 plus miles in one day with a 7 year old and a 4 year old in the car. Can you imagine making 4 stops charging that would add 3hrs to the trip.

3 hours, maybe. Probably longer. After all, you have to search for:

1. A charging station.
2. Find a charger at it that is unoccupied.
3. Find a charger that works and works with your vehicle.
4. Hope it has a charging rate that keeps the time down.

So, let's say you spend 20 minutes getting off the freeway and back on (10 minutes each direction), that's generous. At the charging station there are 4 chargers, 2 work, and both are occupied. It'll be an hour before you can change... Do you look for another station? Do you sit and wait? Then you notice that the stations aren't configured for your vehicle and you don't have an adapter with you to use them. So now you are forced to look for another station...

The whole EV charging issue is a disaster and always will be.

 

[ExpressLane]

3 hours, maybe. Probably longer. After all, you have to search for:

1. A charging station.
2. Find a charger at it that is unoccupied.
3. Find a charger that works and works with your vehicle.
4. Hope it has a charging rate that keeps the time down.

So, let's say you spend 20 minutes getting off the freeway and back on (10 minutes each direction), that's generous. At the charging station there are 4 chargers, 2 work, and both are occupied. It'll be an hour before you can change... Do you look for another station? Do you sit and wait? Then you notice that the stations aren't configured for your vehicle and you don't have an adapter with you to use them. So now you are forced to look for another station...

The whole EV charging issue is a disaster and always will be.

And you have two restless kids with you.

 

[Nordberg]

85 percent is what they suggest for your phone. It is good for prolonging battery life.