Finding a working charging station, a nightmare!

[Drcheema]

Hi,
I'm a new Lucid Air owner, just received it 3 days ago and when tried to find charger yesterday, it was a nightmare. Most of the chargers were out of service and i could totally see dozens of Tesla's charger and pretty much all were working. This got me very frustrating when i had to drive from place to place and most of the chargers were out and the remaining 2-3 were taken. This was my first charging experience and i was not happy.

 

[hydbob]

Use plugshare, don't rely on Electrify America

 

[Adnillien]

Hi,
I'm a new Lucid Air owner, just received it 3 days ago and when tried to find charger yesterday, it was a nightmare. Most of the chargers were out of service and i could totally see dozens of Tesla's charger and pretty much all were working. This got me very frustrating when i had to drive from place to place and most of the chargers were out and the remaining 2-3 were taken. This was my first charging experience and i was not happy.

Where are you located? I agree with @hydbob on using plugshare.

 

[Drcheema]

Use plugshare, don't rely on Electrify America

I don't think i saw plug share on my map around jersey metro area

 

[Andretex]

Plugshare is an app. Download it and it will show all chargers and rate them.

 

[Drcheema]

Where are you located? I agree with @hydbob on using plugshare.

I'm in NJ/NY metro area

 

[Neurio]

And this is why some basic education is needed. There needs to be a simple resource to give to new owners to help with this sort of thing. All EVs, not just Lucid...

 

[Drcheema]

And this is why some basic education is needed. There needs to be a simple resource to give to new owners to help with this sort of thing. All EVs, not just Lucid...

I echo that absolutely!

 

[BACamster]

You could also download and install the Chargeway app.

 

[JerseyStrong]

I, too, live in Central Jersey, and given our State’s progressive stance on EV adoption, I do not understand why the infrastructure here for EVs is not stronger. If you live in a setting where a home charger is doable, I highly recommend one. If not, all the resources others have mentioned can help you locate the full range of chargers available to you. Best of luck to you.

 

[moytoyx]

Central Jersey as well. Walmart in East Brunswick and Target in Bridgewater are my go to stations. I'm usually there early in the AM or late in the evening. I was at The Mills at Jersey Gardens and half of the 10 chargers were down. No wait for me at 4:45A but 3 cars waiting when I left at 5:15.

 

[DeaneG]

Being able to charge at home makes the difference between EV ownership being a pain vs being an absolute delight. I've owned five since 2011 and would only buy one if I could charge at home. What if you had to drive somewhere to charge your cellphone?

 

[Bus Driver]

Hi,
I'm a new Lucid Air owner, just received it 3 days ago and when tried to find charger yesterday, it was a nightmare. Most of the chargers were out of service and i could totally see dozens of Tesla's charger and pretty much all were working. This got me very frustrating when i had to drive from place to place and most of the chargers were out and the remaining 2-3 were taken. This was my first charging experience and i was not happy.

If at all possible, install a home charger. It’ll cost a few thousand dollars but it’ll save you a lot of time and aggravation in the long run.

One of the hallmarks of EV ownership is the ability to “fill up” at home. No going to a station every few days like we would in an ICE car, no queuing up at COSTCO, none of that. Instead, you plug in your car to charge as the last thing you do at night. In the morning you’ll unplug and drive off with a “full tank”. Each and every day, lather, rinse, repeat.

The perfect “triptych” of EV ownership is the EV, a home charging setup, and home solar panels. Before buying my first EV seven years ago, I factored in the cost of ALL that before sending my $250 deposit to EEEHLOHN.

Assuming you haven’t already arranged for this, get a charger installed at your home. You’re missing out otherwise; and you’ll be stuck in the irritating tediousness of sniffing around for a working public charger.

 

[Steveinarizona]

Central Jersey as well. Walmart in East Brunswick and Target in Bridgewater are my go to stations. I'm usually there early in the AM or late in the evening. I was at The Mills at Jersey Gardens and half of the 10 chargers were down. No wait for me at 4:45A but 3 cars waiting when I left at 5:15.

New Jersey has one of the highest rates of EVs per charging station in the country:

Coast | EV Charging Stations vs. Gas Stations: Comparing Density in the U.S.

coastpay.com

 

[hmp10]

If at all possible, install a home charger. It’ll cost a few thousand dollars . . . .

If, however, you already have enough amperage at your panel, it'll only cost a few hundred dollars to install a 240-volt NEMA 14-50 plug into which any brand of EV can be plugged. (We have two plugs in our garage, each of which can be used for either our Tesla or our Lucid.)

 

[Cosmo Cruz]

Central Jersey as well. Walmart in East Brunswick and Target in Bridgewater are my go to stations.

Oh my. I stopped there on the way home from NH (didn't need to). It was mid-day last spring. All chargers full and parking lots were overflowing. No way to tell who's next, or even who's waiting. God Bless Home Charging.

Someone steal the Take a Number machine from a deli...

 

[Sid432]

Central Jersey as well. Walmart in East Brunswick and Target in Bridgewater are my go to stations. I'm usually there early in the AM or late in the evening. I was at The Mills at Jersey Gardens and half of the 10 chargers were down. No wait for me at 4:45A but 3 cars waiting when I left at 5:15.

I saw EB chargers were backed yesterday morning up by upto 7-8 EVs. Funny part is 70% of then were either VW or Chevy bolt

 

[Last ICE]

Being able to charge at home makes the difference between EV ownership being a pain vs being an absolute delight. I've owned five since 2011 and would only buy one if I could charge at home. What if you had to drive somewhere to charge your cellphone?

This is 100% correct. From a usability (and largely financial) standpoint having a level 2 home charger is the only way to make EVs work in my opinion. The charging network is too nascent and disjointed to be counted upon (at least for non-Tesla EVs). 95% of the time my wife and I drive locally (we are an EV-exclusive household, not counting a largely unusable Land Rover Defender) and EVs suit us perfectly. We share a level 2 charger at home which is most of the time unused by either of us.

However, we occasionally make <200 mile road trips. This past weekend we took my wife's Rivian to my in-laws' place in the mountains of western MD. I am working on getting a level 2 charger installed at my in-laws' place, but all I have right now is level 1 at their house. I had to use the one (non-Telsa) DC charging station in town yesterday which has two charging terminals. One was occupied by a VW and the other purportedly was not working. Tried a level 2 charger a few miles away that was unusable. Came back to the DC fast charger later and found the VW was just wrapping up and a Chevy was next. I decided to try the second terminal and it worked just fine. Downside was that it maxed out at about 60 kW. Had a tea while I waited but it shifted my departure plans (pushing us into the heart of a snowstorm) simply because I had to wait on charging.

I also think those designing charging stations should consider planning for additional parking spots where people can clearly line up to know who's next...this is becoming a bigger problem as the shortage of charging infrastructure becomes more pronounced with more EVs on the road.

 

[hmp10]

I also think those designing charging stations should consider planning for additional parking spots where people can clearly line up to know who's next...this is becoming a bigger problem as the shortage of charging infrastructure becomes more pronounced with more EVs on the road.

So true. I'm just waiting to hear about the first fight at a charging station over this. And the chargers all need to be put under roofs, too.

 

[Sid432]

So true. I'm just waiting to hear about the first fight at a charging station over this. And the chargers all need to be put under roofs, too.

I was at the EA station and I was next in line. Some lady came and trying to pull in to charge. I honked and let her know that there is a line to charge to which she blatanly lied on my face that she was here. I resisted and said I (one other person) have been waiting for 20 minutes and I didn’t see you waiting here. To which she replied “Fine, you can have the charger!”. I responded with ”Thank you!”