Why America’s EV chargers keep breaking .... article on Politico website

[RCLAUSSEN]

I guess EA has a bigger present in CA. Within 5 miles radius of where I live, there are 4 EA sites. Thus far, I haven't had any horror stories with charging session with any of the four sites.

I'm sure we will catch up with CA eventually, y'all are way ahead of us with ev charger availability, but there are tons of Teslas and tapas chargers in Dallas. We loved that the Air can be charged in the garage overnight on a regular 240 plug level with the free L2 charger that came with the car. We can take the charger with us if we travel. With the long range we can use this car without worrying about needing a public charge.

 

[scal_air]

I have found that my charging experiences at Electrify America charges have significantly improved over the last month.

I agree. Improvements are being made - as expected. This is my main argument against the "lively" thread that Lucid should adopt NACS. As Bobby pointed out, there is little difference in charging time between 150 and 350 kW chargers. However, if hobbled by the 400V NACS chargers, 50kW would be a poor experience. Don't sell the future for a modest gain today. Keep the competition up so that there is an incentive to develop 1000V NACS chargers so that you will have a real choice!

 

[AZPure]

I live in a smaller town, south of Phoenix (same town where Lucid AMP-1 is located) and we have one EA station with 4 chargers a few minutes from my house at Wal-mart. So far, they have been pretty reliable (knock on wood). I’ve had my car for 6 weeks or so and have gotten by using the EA and trickle charging at home. However, I haven’t taken any long road trips yet.

We are planning to drive to Disneyland next month which is about 400 miles each way. There are EA stations somewhat spread out along the way. Given the known issues, plus the unknown on how long the line will be if all are in use, it has me second guessing taking the Lucid and instead taking my wife’s ICE car. And this get’s to the root of the issue, until road trip EV charging is at least only somewhat inconvenient, rather than completely inconvenient, I don’t feel confident about mass adoption. That’s not even accounting for cost and range.

And the fact that there are different plugs and only certain cars can be charged at certain chargers is silly. We need one plug, I don’t care which one. Plus, the need to have an app to access the chargers…come on!

If companies really want EV adoption, the goal has to be targeting the convenience of a gas station. Otherwise as we’ve seen, you can build them, and they won’t come, and thats not even taking cost and range into consideration.

 

[Bill55]

I live in a smaller town, south of Phoenix (same town where Lucid AMP-1 is located) and we have one EA station with 4 chargers a few minutes from my house at Wal-mart. So far, they have been pretty reliable (knock on wood). I’ve had my car for 6 weeks or so and have gotten by using the EA and trickle charging at home. However, I haven’t taken any long road trips yet.

We are planning to drive to Disneyland next month which is about 400 miles each way. There are EA stations somewhat spread out along the way. Given the known issues, plus the unknown on how long the line will be if all are in use, it has me second guessing taking the Lucid and instead taking my wife’s ICE car. And this get’s to the root of the issue, until road trip EV charging is at least only somewhat inconvenient, rather than completely inconvenient, I don’t feel confident about mass adoption. That’s not even accounting for cost and range.

And the fact that there are different plugs and only certain cars can be charged at certain chargers is silly. We need one plug, I don’t care which one. Plus, the need to have an app to access the chargers…come on!

If companies really want EV adoption, the goal has to be targeting the convenience of a gas station. Otherwise as we’ve seen, you can build them, and they won’t come, and thats not even taking cost and range into consideration.

400 miles is pretty easy for the Lucid. Charge to 100% at home. Stop early around 50% charge to 80%. That gives you options. With a level 2 at hotel you would only need 1 fast charger stop each way.

 

[scal_air]

I don't know about Arizona, but if you are traveling west on the I-10, you should have no problems finding a charger after Palm Springs.

 

[Instinctive]

I doubt we will use EA, why when we can plug in our garage. Look at where they are, Dallas has 7 million residents and we have 4 around the city, it would take 45+ minutes without traffic to get to any of them as I live in the city...don't think we will ever use EA unless we are on a road trip. Grateful for the range on this car.

Totally agree and came to same conclusion. All my charger thoughts/worries/hopes are to get reliable, not likely to wait, fast charging at key places between cities. to enable direct trips to, say, Amarillo then Santa Fe then up to Denver, etc.

 

[scal_air]

With an effective 350 mile range, for most people the Lucid Air will be sufficient for 95% of trips and home L2 charging will be the mainstay. However, people focus on the longer trips that rarely occur, yet seem to be the basis for most of the EV bashing/anxiety. I expect as EVs become a larger portion of thr vehicles on the road, more charging stations become economically feasible. In Southern California, I really don't worry about road trips because the chargers are plentiful, even if I restrict myself to EA. For other areas, you may need to add EVgo, ChargePoint or other networks to avoid "charge anxiety". But when I look at EV network locating apps like Plug Share, it appears doable but requires planning and perhaps stopping more often (and longer) than ICE vehicles. I guess it all a matter how much comparitive "inconvienience" one is willing to tolerate during long trips....

 

[stratus]

With an effective 350 mile range, for most people the Lucid Air will be sufficient for 95% of trips and home L2 charging will be the mainstay. However, people focus on the longer trips that rarely occur, yet seem to be the basis for most of the EV bashing/anxiety. I expect as EVs become a larger portion of thr vehicles on the road, more charging stations become economically feasible. In Southern California, I really don't worry about road trips because the chargers are plentiful, even if I restrict myself to EA. For other areas, you may need to add EVgo, ChargePoint or other networks to avoid "charge anxiety". But when I look at EV network locating apps like Plug Share, it appears doable but requires planning and perhaps stopping more often (and longer) than ICE vehicles. I guess it all a matter how much comparitive "inconvienience" one is willing to tolerate during long trips....

All great points. Certain parts of the country , including my neck of the woods, present significant challenges, but are certainly feasible for longer trips with a little planning.
I look forward to the day ( I hope ) where no planning is required and DCFCs are easily accessible every 50-100 miles, including in sparsely populated rural areas. Perhaps wishful thinking on my part.

 

[Daniel2022AT]

Take the road trip and enjoy your Lucid but plan ahead using PlugShare and ABRP. My 1,300 mile road trip from the Midwest to Florida was absolutely delightful and stress free. EA charging worked smoothly.