27% of California EV chargers nonfunctional?

[DeaneG]

I think EA chargers are in general better than this - maybe 80-90% functional:

Electric-car charging stations are becoming more common, but there's still one huge problem: Tons of them don't work

Researchers surveying public charging stations in California's Bay Area, a hotbed for electric cars, found that around 23% were inoperable.

www.businessinsider.com

 

[hydbob]

Eh..it's sensationalized to draw viewers in...also they didn't test any Tesla chargers haha

A total of 22.7% of connectors were non-functioning due to problems including network connectivity issues, broken plugs, unresponsive screens, and payment system failures. Around 5% of connectors had cables that were too short to reach an EV's charging port, rendering them unusable.

 

[HC_79]

I think EA chargers are in general better than this - maybe 80-90% functional:

Electric-car charging stations are becoming more common, but there's still one huge problem: Tons of them don't work

Researchers surveying public charging stations in California's Bay Area, a hotbed for electric cars, found that around 23% were inoperable.

www.businessinsider.com

20% isn't good when EA has such minimal numbers of chargers at each location. I agree with the article and think the charging networks are poorly maintained and when left out in the elements with no shelter it's no wonder they're broken half the time. I've been to EA locations where 1 charger has been offline for 2+ months

 

[LCIDdreams]

Around 5% of connectors had cables that were too short to reach an EV's charging port, rendering them unusable.

Too short to reach any EV’s charging port? That would be funny if true.

 

[HC_79]

Too short to reach any EV’s charging port? That would be funny if true.

Doesn't surprise me though. Sometimes the placement of chargers made it impossible to get the cable to connect to my old eTron without having to park the car at an angle etc. I don't blame the charging companies for this. If the auto industry could've just agreed on a standard location it would have made it easy for infrastructure. An ICE vehicle the gas location is either at the back left or right but for some reason when it came to EV's they decided to put the ports wherever they pleased.

 

[Slam08]

It not hard to put a little extra length in the cord to account for different charging spots. I would prefer that over creating an industry standard, seems like unecesary regulation.

Having said that. I bet the 4.9% of the chargers weren’t long enough because they parked the car incorrectly.

And the remaining 0.1% really couldn’t charge any car, but have been left functioning by the company for unknown reasons.

 

[Sandvinsd]

It not hard to put a little extra length in the cord to account for different charging spots. I would prefer that over creating an industry standard, seems like unecesary regulation.

the cord length is a cost issue. They are thick with a lot of wiring and insulation. I’m not sure how much it would cost per foot, but having a Cord like on a home charger would be impractical. The cords on EVgo station where I went with my leaf would be long enough to plug on to either side of the car whether it was in the back if one backed in the spot or in the front if one pulled in head first. Better design of the stations would be a better solution. It will be tough when people are getting a charge while pulling trailers in the EV trucks

 

[Slam08]

There are trade offs with each one. I combination of both accepted practices and better design is prolly best.

I agree that EA charging cords are quite cumbersome to use. Sometimes it’s difficult to charge my I pace because if there too much torque in the cord then it gives an error message. One time I even had to reposition my car multiple times (no other chargers available)

 

[hydbob]

It's because some charging stations stupidly put the kiosk in the front whereas if it were designed like gas stations they should all be put on the side of the car in the middle of the spot so any location for a charge port could be accommodated.

 

[Slam08]

It's because some charging stations stupidly put the kiosk in the front whereas if it were designed like gas stations they should all be put on the side of the car in the middle of the spot so any location for a charge port could be accommodated.

OMG I’ve been to one of those in Indianapolis. The cord was super short and there was concrete bumper in front. I was able to just squeeze in. I don’t think I could charge an Air there.