Finding a working charging station, a nightmare!

[efesese]

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.

Welcome to the club!

 

[DeaneG]

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.

It'll get better as you gain experience and make use of Plugshare or Chargeway apps. There should also be a step function improvement in the mext 12-18 months as Federal NEVI funds put more CCS stations into service, and as Tesla (and Rivian?) open their networks.

 

[Tim-in-CA]

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

Also, be sure to filter the stations by plug type. You will want to choose CCS (aka Fast Chargers), otherwise you will see a bunch of J1772 (aka Slow Chargers) that will take you a long time to charge. Be wary of the 50kW stations as these can also be slow and take over an hour or more to charge. And, while we are in the education phase, your charge rate will slow down the closer you get to 100%. Going from 80% to 100% will take as long or maybe longer than it takes to go from 20% to 80%, outdoor and battery temp will also affect charging speed. Always chose the precondition option in the charge (lighting bolt screen) on the pilot panel before heading to a charger.

 

[Amster]

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!”

Reminds me of the time someone backed into the side my parked car. She got out to check damage and I asked her for her license and insurance. She refused to give me either, and insisted that she hadn't hit my car!

 

[JerseyStrong]

I know many New Jerseyans live in apartment and condo complexes and cannot install a charger. If you can, though, NJ has good rebates both on And approved chargers and the cost of installation. Search Charge Up NJ.

 

[JHDonahue]

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.

Suggest getting a home charger - I bought the Lucid one. With a charger at home, you can use Electrify America when it is working/available but does not make it crucial. Agree the EA system needs serious upgrade. I have used it quite a bit but its maintenance is spotty. Enjoy your new car.

 

[Drcheema]

Suggest getting a home charger - I bought the Lucid one. With a charger at home, you can use Electrify America when it is working/available but does not make it crucial. Agree the EA system needs serious upgrade. I have used it quite a bit but its maintenance is spotty. Enjoy your new car.

I'm getting a home one, thank you for your input. IT was my first charging experience which got me worried if i got myself into EV too soon. But, i guess it's a change to ones lifestyle. Nevertheless, I'm loving this high tech vehicle and it's performance!

 

[dwfallin]

Good move! It IS a lifestyle change - being able to fill up at home is the key!

 

[mardin]

Use plugshare, don't rely on Electrify America

So why does lucid include Electrify America charging and not Plug Share instead. This is not very honest and speaks to the fiscal disincentives to provide hard to get yet included charging.... Just go pay for it instead. This was supposed to be a buyers incentive not a buyers curse. Bad business

 

[Amster]

So why does lucid include Electrify America charging and not Plug Share instead. This is not very honest and speaks to the fiscal disincentives to provide hard to get yet included charging.... Just go pay for it instead. This was supposed to be a buyers incentive not a buyers curse. Bad business

I have both on my phone. Those are two very different apps. PlugShare finds you available chargers, some free and some paid. It is very useful if you're driving a long distance and need to charge. Electrify America is a charging network and Lucid gives you free charging on it for a period of time. In some areas it's good and in others it's horrible. I have an EA that is five miles from my house that is really reliable and we use it often. Ideally, you really should have a home charger installed.

 

[segbrk]

So why does lucid include Electrify America charging and not Plug Share instead. This is not very honest and speaks to the fiscal disincentives to provide hard to get yet included charging.... Just go pay for it instead. This was supposed to be a buyers incentive not a buyers curse. Bad business

PlugShare isn't a charging brand, it's pretty much a review site. Use it like Google Maps or Yelp but specifically for EV chargers. It shows a user rating for each charging station called "PlugScore" which reflects how reliable the station has been recently, along with user reviews telling you what's working/not working. Even if you're just looking for Electrify America stations, look on PlugShare. Some are more reliable than others, and it will tell you which ones they are.

 

[CraZ8]

Reminds me of the time someone backed into the side my parked car. She got out to check damage and I asked her for her license and insurance. She refused to give me either, and insisted that she hadn't hit my car!

I have a standing procedure now to immediately take a picture of the other cars license plate and driver as obnoxious as that sounds after an incident in manhattan years ago. A well dressed woman in a Lexus bangs into my then new BMW X5 at a light scratching the bumper and knocking in a parking sensor. ( she was on her phone) we got out and she apologized. I said ok we will exchange info let’s get out of the street by pulling immediately around the corner to space by the curb. She roared through the light and disappeared as I turned around the corner. Always document first! My trust in humanity was shaken that day

 

[Knucklehead]

As of January 2024, public charging sucks. Because so many people are getting BEVs, I cannot see it getting any better before it gets worse. Unfortunately,

This is why a long range car is critical. This is why Lucid is at the top of my list to replace my Mach-e. The longer you can drive without needing to use a public charger, the better.

One day, in the near future, Lucid drivers will have access to the Tesla SC network. That will help a lot, but there are a ton of cars (like my Ford) that will also have access to the SC network, and so I can see even the Tesla experience getting seriously worse before it gets better.

Avoid public charging whenever possible. That is my approach.

 

[Amster]

I have a standing procedure now to immediately take a picture of the other cars license plate and driver as obnoxious as that sounds after an incident in manhattan years ago. A well dressed woman in a Lexus bangs into my then new BMW X5 at a light scratching the bumper and knocking in a parking sensor. ( she was on her phone) we got out and she apologized. I said ok we will exchange info let’s get out of the street by pulling immediately around the corner to space by the curb. She roared through the light and disappeared as I turned around the corner. Always document first! My trust in humanity was shaken that day

I didn't take a picture, but did write down her license plate. Which turned out to be a good move. It turned out she was being evasive because the car was was rented for her by her boyfriend - her married boyfriend. He didn't want to give me any info either. Just wanted to pay for it out of pocket so that nothing would get reported. But fixing my care cost more money then he could spend without his wife noticing. So in the end, I just reported it to insurance, gave them the plate number, and let them track down what they needed.

 

[Drcheema]

I have both on my phone. Those are two very different apps. PlugShare finds you available chargers, some free and some paid. It is very useful if you're driving a long distance and need to charge. Electrify America is a charging network and Lucid gives you free charging on it for a period of time. In some areas it's good and in others it's horrible. I have an EA that is five miles from my house that is really reliable and we use it often. Ideally, you really should have a home charger inst

PlugShare isn't a charging brand, it's pretty much a review site. Use it like Google Maps or Yelp but specifically for EV chargers. It shows a user rating for each charging station called "PlugScore" which reflects how reliable the station has been recently, along with user reviews telling you what's working/not working. Even if you're just looking for Electrify America stations, look on PlugShare. Some are more reliable than others, and it will tell you which ones they are.

Thank you! i learning so much new stuff from all you guys on this forum.

 

[Sandvinsd]

We just need more infrastructure in SanDiego. I was downtown and went to 4 different EA stations that were supposedly open. By the time I arrived, the operational ones were full with people waiting and others were just not working. Finally charged in Carmel Mountain. Grabbed the last spot. At least it worked with good speed. They I had to drive all the way back down to Miramar. The infrastructure is lacking. Need about 20 chargers at each location like Tesla has.

 

[Bus Driver]

We just need more infrastructure in SanDiego. I was downtown and went to 4 different EA stations that were supposedly open. By the time I arrived, the operational ones were full with people waiting and others were just not working. Finally charged in Carmel Mountain. Grabbed the last spot. At least it worked with good speed. They I had to drive all the way back down to Miramar. The infrastructure is lacking. Need about 20 chargers at each location like Tesla has.

I’ve also noted that neither the EA app or Lucid navigation refresh their data very well. For example, either will tell you that 2/4 are open and available, and will display that the entire 20 minutes it takes you to drive there. Only to find when you arrive that all stalls are taken, with a line of cars already waiting.

Again another area where Lucid software development still lags behind Tesla. In the area of available stalls versus total number of stalls, the Tesla mobile app and Tesla navigation are pretty accurate. You can almost tell to the minute when someone has plugged or unplugged.

I haven’t had much occasion to need the Tesla supercharging network, ever since getting my Lucid Air GT. I almost always charge our EVs at home. But that’s been my experience.

 

[DeaneG]

One time on a holiday weekend (never again), EA's app showed 9/10 charging stalls available at a shopping plaza in downtown Los Angeles. Arrived there and 9/10 of the stalls had an ICE car parked in the space as the rest of the large lot was full. No way for EA to know this.

 

[segbrk]

One time on a holiday weekend (never again), EA's app showed 9/10 charging stalls available at a shopping plaza in downtown Los Angeles. Arrived there and 9/10 of the stalls had an ICE car parked in the space as the rest of the large lot was full. No way for EA to know this.

Cameras or other sensors on the stands to tell if the space is blocked by anything? Not even a very high tech solution. Parking garages have had “spaces available” counters for years now.

 

[DeaneG]

Cameras or other sensors on the stands to tell if the space is blocked by anything? Not even a very high tech solution. Parking garages have had “spaces available” counters for years now.

Right, they should, but do not. I've been in parking garages in the EU that have a little red or green light above each space, so you can see an empty spot from a distance. Likely using a buried wire loop sensor.